A Slender Child
by Tkdoegirl
Summary: Sky had always wanted to be a mother, but she'd given that up when she accepted that she was going to spend the rest of her life with Slendy. After all, she was human and he was... Well, the Slender man. So when she found out her chance at motherhood might not be lost, why is she so scared?
1. Prologue

I couldn't believe it. Could this really be happening? Neither of us had thought it possible, but honesty we hadn't really discussed it much.

I mean really though, how do you discuss something like this when your partner isn't even the same species as you!

As a gazed down at this... this...

I couldn't even think about what it was.

But as I gazed down at it, something happened. My whole mindset changed with that one little incident.

Oh my God. This was really real. This was happening.

And I realized I would do whatever it took to protect it. No matter what. Because it was his, because it was _ours_.

Because I loved it.

* * *

**A/N: Hi guys! So yeah, I know this was short, but its just the prologue - more to come I promise ;D I really enjoyed writting "A Slender Chance" (the story that came before this one) and I'm really excited to get to work on this story. If you haven't yet read "A Slender Chance," I suggest you do before you read this so that you don't get lost, cause I dunno yet if I'm gonna re go-over everything that happened in the last story.**

**Anywayyy, have fun reading! Please follow, favorite, and review. All comments are welcome, good or bad! I like to hear what you guys think, for after all, what is an author without her readers? ;)**


	2. Chapter 1

I couldn't believe it had been four years already. Four years since I'd first met the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Four years since I first fell in love with the Slender man.

That weekend in the woods a few weeks before my eighteenth birthday had started it all, and I couldn't have been more grateful to the fates. My eighteenth birthday soon came and went and Slendy told me he loved me. Not too long after that I finally made up my mind that I loved him back.

Things had been difficult in the beginning, what with him being a child murderer and all, but somehow I managed to look past that - don't ask me how, because even_ I_ still don't know.

He stopped killing for me - well, killing innocent children at least. I knew he couldn't give it up entirely -he couldn't help what he was after all - but he changed his methods. Now he hunted criminals and other murderers. I could live with that. I still didn't care for the general idea of taking a life, but as long as he didn't talk about it with me, I was alright.

The summer after I graduated high school I moved out of my parents house and bought an apartment near my college in Atlanta. Slendy came with me of course. Eventually I asked him to move in with me. He practically already was anyway, considering how much time he spent at the apartment. For some reason, I just felt the need to make it official.

Another year went by in the blink of an eye. College was fun, I had decent job as a dress consultant in a local wedding dress shop, and every night when I came home, my Slender man would be there for me. My life was perfect.

Except for one thing...

The night before my twentieth birthday I finally brought it up. It had been bothering me a while, but I wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject.

"Hey, um, Slendy?" I asked hesitantly.

He was sprawled on the couch reading the newspaper. The paper was open to an article about a rapist who was found dead in the park. Police were still searching for the murderer. Slendy looked up from the paper. "Yes little one?"

"I, um, I was wondering..." My slight stutter seemed to increase Slendy's interest.

"What is it?" He set the paper aside and sat up. I had his full attention.

Oh lord. How do I say this? Why did I even bring it up? I stared down at my knotted fingers. "Well, you know we've been together quite a while..." I paused.

"Yes," he said, his tone urging me to continue.

"And we're both adults who can make decisions for ourselves..."

He titled his head to the side, no doubt wondering where I was going with this.

"And I was wondering about something..."

I could tell he was starting to get impatient, and that made me even more nervous.

"Well, I mean I'm a human and you're... you know, not, and I just wanted to know..."

He sighed, sounding like he was trying to hold back his frustration. "Just say it, Sky."

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get the words out. I could feel that I was blushing furiously. I took a deep breath and stole up all my courage. "Are we sexually compatible?" I blurted.

He just stared at me in shock. Guess that's not what he had expected. My face was burning from embarrassment.

"I- I mean, cause you're not human you know, an- and I was just wondering i- if we even could..." I tried to explain myself.

"You... want to... mate?" Slendy asked slowly. He too had a pink tinge to his pale cheeks.

I stuttered several things in gibberish, not able to form complete words or sentences. The Slender man stood up and walked over to where I stood floundering like an idiot. He held up a long pale finger to my lips to silence me. "My... basic anatomy is like that of a human male," he said.

Oh my.

He lowered his hand to grab mine. He pulled me to him while he walked backwards.

Towards the bedroom.

"Come," he said with a smoldering voice.

Oh my.

Like the idiot I was, I started to ask. "Are we going to...?" And then I blushed cardinal red again.

Slendy blush again too. He leaned down so that his lips were close to my ear and his breath fluttered my hair. "Yes," he whispered.

Oh my.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sooo, I just wanna give a special shout out to two amazing people! First, flanny-chan did some flippin awesome fan art of Sky and posted it on deviantART, then got Blonndiee into my story! The second shout out goes to Blonndiee who also did her own amazing fan art. It literally made my day seeing that you guys, and the art looks fantastic. Thanks a million xD *hands you each a cookie***

**The rest of you guys should go check them out. I posted the links below. (just take out the spaces after the periods and insert a "com/" between "deviantart" and "#", since Fanfiction wont let me post a direct link :P) GO LOOK AT THEM! **

**flanny-chan. deviantart. #/art/Sky-Steele-355980716?_sid=6c8b929c**

**blonndiee. deviantart. #/art/The-Sky-Is-The-Limit-356043140?_sid=79dfbbdf**

**Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far (even though this is only like, chapter 2) and I ask that you continue to read on! Things are gonna get real good soon...**

**As always, please follow, favorite, and review. I know everyone asks you to follow, favorite, and review thier stories, but it just makes the author feel good to know what the readers are thinking and that people are enjoying thier works, you know? So please do it!**

**I'm going to do my best to update the story as often as I can, but I've been working a lot lately (turns out I'm actually GOOD at my new job. Who knew? 0.o) and I'm also kinda... um... almost failing my physics class... so I probably should give a little more attention to that for a while plus my SATs are coming up :P Oh yeah, and theater rehearsal for the spring musical starts this week, so now I'm gonna have to add ****_another_**** thing to my already bursting schedule... Damn, I do way too much stuff ^.^ **

**Anywho, enough of my babbling. Enjoy the next chapter! :D**

**-Erin**

* * *

It was a Wednesday morning just a few weeks after I'd graduated college, and I was sick as a dog.

I was curled over the toilet. Slendy was kneeling behind me, holding my hair out of the way. I felt awful for forcing him to witness this, but I didn't think I aught to risk opening my mouth just yet to tell him to go away. Besides, he'd probably seen much worse.

"Poor little one," he murmured and gently wiped the sweat from my brow. I groaned and hurled again.

"Call my boss and tell him I can't make it today," I whispered hoarsely.

"My, you are sick aren't you?" He sounded partially amused.

"What?"

"I can't use phones," he reminded me.

"Shit," I groaned, "Can you bring it to me please?"

"Of course." He was gone in a flash, then reapeared in the next second, my cellphone in hand. Thank goodness for Slender walking. Then he disappeared again so that his aura wouldn't interfere with the call.

I dialed work and called in sick. When I hung up I started to hand the phone back to Slendy, who had reappeared when I finished the call, but he pushed it back towards me. "Call the doctor," he ordered.

I looked up at him with pleading eyes. He knew I didn't like doctors. "Can't you just heal me?" I begged.

He was shaking his head even as I asked it however. "Whatever this is, I can't heal it," he said apologetically.

"Why not?" I whined.

I could hear the frustration in his voice when he replied. "Believe me little one, if I knew why, I'd find a way to fix it," he almost growled. "I don't like seeing you hurt like this."

I managed a weak smile. He really did love me. Perhaps I could humor him. Would a trip to the doctors _really_ be that bad?

Noon time found me sitting in a monochromatic waiting room and flipping through an old magazine. My stomach had settled down, but I still felt a small twinge of nausea if I twisted my torso wrong. My head swam and pounded at the same time, my guess was as a result of dehydration from the vomiting.

My feet bounced nervously, lightly tapping the pale tile floor. This was why I hated the doctors - not the needles or the invasion of privacy, but the waiting.

Total wait time between the waiting room, the time it took the doctor to make it to my room once I had been called back, and then twiddling my thumbs while she went over test results was two hours and counting. I was almost ready to shoot myself. Why did I agree to this? I was feeling better now - no need for this crap. I could be home right now, doped up on cold medicine, and snuggling with my favorite myth.

Dr. Farrow walked in, a broad smile on her face. I was in a foul enough mood that I could barely manage a small smile in return.

"I think I know what your problem is Miss Steele," she beamed.

"Please do tell," I said, not reciprocating her sunny mood.

And then she did tell me.

My heart faltered for a second and my jaw dropped as I gasped aloud. Surely, I misheard?

It couldn't be... Could it?


	4. Chapter 3

"Pregnant?" I stared at the doctor with wide eyes.

"Yes ma'am, about two months along as far as I can tell. Congratulations," Dr. Farrow said warmly.

My mood had changed in that one instant. Suddenly the doctors - not to mention the wait - had been worth it all just to hear this. I was going to be a mom!

The rest of the visit was a blur of me asking questions and her filling me in on what I needed to know. A voice at the back of my head kept telling me that I should be worrying about what Slendy was going to say, but I shoved the thought aside. Why wouldn't he be happy too? I mean, granted it was unplanned, and out of the blue, and we weren't even married, but it wasn't exactly like he could just walk into a church - or any public place for that matter. Marriage was out of the picture for us, just like I had thought children were...

Children! The thought still made me giddy. We had never really discussed it in much detail, but we both had always just assumed that because he wasn't human I wouldn't be able to conceive his young. The fact that it had been over a year since the first time we had sex and we'd never used protection before seemed to verify our assumption. I wondered briefly _why_ it hadn't happened until now, but then decided it didn't matter. All that mattered was that it _had_ happened.

I'd always wanted to be a mom. Even when I was little, I'd known that someday I'd have a house full of little ones of my own. When I'd realized as an adult that I was going to be spending the rest of my life with the Slender man, I also realized that that meant that my future family wasn't going to happen anymore. It made me sad, but I'd accepted it. I accepted it because I loved Slendy and I could live without a kid - but not without him. Now, as it turns out, I didn't have to give up one for the other. I could have both.

I drove home with extra care. I was anxious to get back to my Slender and tell him the news, but at the same time was overly aware of the fact that I wasn't the only life in the car now...

The door to the apartment was nearly thrown off its hinges as I came barreling through. Slendy jumped to his feet from where he sat at the table, knocking over his chair in his haste. I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stood there for a split second while he recovered from his shock at my sudden entrance and then wrapped his arms around me, hugging back.

"I guess you're feeling better?" he asked with a smile.

"More than better," I said.

"Oh?" He raises his brow. "What happened?"

"I found something out while I was at the doctor," I said, nearly bouncing with excitement. I gave him a swift chaste kiss just for the heck of it, needing some way to channel my emotion at the moment.

The Tall One seemed to be enjoying my mood. He chuckled. "Well please tell me what wonderful news the doctor brought," he said.

I bit my lip and smiled. I couldn't wait to see his reaction. "You ready for this?" I asked.

"Go ahead my little one," he prompted.

"I... Am..." I let the suspense build.

"Yes?" He was leading forward eagerly, his forehead resting against mine.

"I'm pregnant!" I squealed.

The Operator froze. He wasn't even breathing. At first I thought it was just the shock of the announcement, and I waited expectantly for his excitement, but when he remained frozen, my smile started to slip.

"Slendy?"

No reply.

"Slendy, what's wrong?"

Still nothing.

My smile was completely gone now. "Slender, please say something," I begged.

"What do you want me to say?" he finally spoke, but his voice sounded pained and a little shaky.

"Tell me your happy," I said.

He dropped his arms from around me and stepped back a pace. His face was grim. "Why would I be happy about this Sky?" he whispered in horror.


	5. Chapter 4

My heart sank. My whole world crumbled around me. I heard a roaring in in my ears, and the phrase repeated over and over.

"Why would I be happy?"

Why _wouldn't _he be happy?

A sickening thought occurred to me. Maybe he didn't want another tie to me. Was he getting tired of me? Was he scared the responsibility of a kid would cut off his escape if he ever wanted to leave? Did he _want _to leave me?

Did he not love me anymore?

That hurt. Tears sprang to my eyes as I saw myself months from now, ugly, fat, heavy with child. Would he turn away from me then?

He didn't want this - his baby. Was it because it was half my baby too? If he didn't want me anymore, then certainly a child that was mine also would be an unwelcome remembrance. Would he even have anything to do with it? Would it grow up not knowing its father? That made my heart squeeze with sorrow. No child should ever have to grow up without a parent.

Tears started streaming down my face as all this went through my mind. "Hey," Slendy whispered softly as he reached out to me, holding me, wiping away my tears with a tentacle. "Don't cry little one," he cooed. "Don't be scared, we will fix this."

'Scared?' Why would I be scared?

'Fix this?' Fix what, the baby?

I realized a split second later what he meant. Oh my God.

I shoved away from him. "We are _not_ killing our baby!" I snarled.

He stood frozen, staring at me with a wounded expression. "Sky, what choice do we have?"

How could he be so cold? So cruel? This was a _baby_! An infant! An innocent little life - one that hadn't even begun yet. How could he think the only option this little life had was death?

'He's a child murderer Sky,' my subconscious reminded me.

Oh crap. He was. How could I forget? But he'd said he'd stopped killing children - he promised me. Why would _our _child be the exception? The tears started falling faster now. Maybe it would be too much temptation for him, having a child around. Maybe he didn't think he'd be able to help himself. Did he really think of himself as such a monster that he didn't think he'd be able to keep from killing his own kid? I didn't think he was a monster...

"No, we have other choices!" I tried to convince him, my voice rising an octave.

"No, we don't," he insisted coldly, his voice also starting to rise.

"Why not?" I half shouted, half sobbed.

"Because I don't want to lose you!" he yelled back.

I stopped. Lose me? So this wasn't about him not wanting me anymore? But why would he think a baby would pull us apart... "Why would you think you would lose me?" I asked in a softer tone.

He gazed at me impassively. "I'm not human Sky." I opened my mouth the ask what that had to do with this, but he held up a finger to silence me. "If I'm not human, what do you think that... _thing _inside of you will be?"

Oh. Oh fuck. "I - I don't know..." I said.

"Exactly. What if it's like me? What if it's a monster?" His voice was like molten lava. It was burning with some unfathomable amount of pain.

I step forward and wrapped my arms around his waist. "You're not a monster," I said, willing him to believe me.

He ignored me. "Sky, I don't know if the human body is capable of carrying my kind. What if it hurts you? I don't know what I'd do if... if this thing... killed you... It would be my fault..." He was still the burning man. The fear he must be feeling was eating him from the inside - not fear of being stuck with me like I'd thought, but fear of loosing me instead.

Now that I knew what was really bothering him, I felt relieved. It was almost amusing to me how I was more scared about him leaving me than I was about dying.

'You need help.' My subconscious looked at me incredulously. I ignored her as usual.

I buried my face in his stomach. "I'm not going to die. I'm strong Slendy," I promised.

"You won't have to be if you'll just do this. For me, please," he begged.

"No."

"Sky..."

"I'm keeping it. That's final."

He grabbed my face with his hands and tilted my chin up so I would be looking him straight in the eyes if he had any. "Why would you want to risk your life for a monster?"

I scoffed. "It's not a monster," I insisted. My expression softened and I reached up to caress his face. "And this baby is part me, part you. I'd risk my life for anything that was part you. I love you so much."

He leaned his face into my touch. "If it kills you, I'll never forgive myself," he murmured.

"It's gonna be alright," I tried again to get through to him. I wasn't going anywhere. "I love you."

"I love you too. Don't die."


	6. Chapter 5

I stared at the image in the bathroom mirror opposite me in wonder.

What I saw was a woman in her early twenties, and moderately pretty bordering on plain. Her large hazel eyes gazed back at me with a look of slight awe and her long blonde hair fell straight down her back. She was clad in only her undergarments, which showed off the point of interest that had caused my wonderment - a small round bump protruding between her hips.

Gingerly, I raised my hand to lay it across the bump. The woman in the mirror copied me.

It was strange to see this - for there to finally be enough of a fetus inside of me to create a noticeable baby bump.

The situation reminded me of how you come to notice the days getting longer in the spring. One morning you go to work and its still dark out, as it has been all winter. And then a week later, as if by all of the sudden, you notice that it's light out. You wonder how long it's been getting lighter and you just didn't notice.

That's how I felt now. I wondered at the time that had passed since my belly had been growing and how long it had taken me to notice. I was almost four months along. The time frame for starting to show was about right, wasn't it?

"What are you doing?" a deep and silky voice asked quietly from the doorway.

I jumped and glanced at Slendy in the mirror. "Hey. When did you get back?" I asked. Earlier this evening he'd left to go hunting - something he'd been doing a lot more of as of late.

I tried my best to ignore the fact that this inevitably meant that he was killing more people... It seemed to be his best way of coping with the stress - and my, had he been stressed. It was sad really, bordering on ridiculous. He was the freaking Slender man after all! He'd seen plenty of horrors in his day - caused most of them in fact. So how was a baby enough to sink his whole demeanor into this dark abyss he seemed to be lost in? In any case. A baby was hardly a horror...

Even if it did have Slender-like qualities.

And even if I did end up having to die for it...

'Can it Steele. You're not gonna die,' I told myself sternly. It was bad enough to have my soul mate in a mood and try and stay optimistic myself. I HAD to keep an open mind here. Death wasn't my only future...

I almost snorted at my idiotic statement. Of course death was my future - it was everyone's - I just didn't want it to be my near future.

"I only teleported in from the woods a few moments ago," Slendy answered my question. He took in my mostly naked appearance appreciatively and for a moment hope fluttered in my chest. Had his mood improved some finally? Then his eyes fell on my slightly swollen stomach and he froze.

I forced a small smile trying my best to ignore the cold aura he was admitting. "I'm starting to show," I stated the obvious.

He nodded slowly without saying a word.

"Isn't it wonderful?" my tone of voice was too broken by discomfort and slight sorrow over his less than enthused reaction to make it sound too wonderful.

He didn't even bother to nod this time.

"It's almost surreal to finally see it?" My attempts at coaxing a verbal - or even something remotely less than dismal - response was not working in the slightest. Damn his moody and cynical tendencies.

"Yes. Surreal," he finally agreed monotone.

"I wonder if its a boy or a girl?" I mused softly, looking down at the bump an not so much talking to the dark man than myself.

He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "You should be able to find out soon," he said in a still dead voice that easily gave away the fact that the gender of his offspring couldn't matter less in his eyes. I sighed sadly, wishing immensely that he would care...

He turned away from me and stopped before disappearing around the other side of the door frame to address me, "Put your clothes back on Sky. You'll catch cold if you stand there in your undergarments like that too long." And then he was gone.

I resumed looking at the bump in the mirror, deliberately disobeying the sometimes infuriatingly bossy and moody Slender man.

I really _was_ happy to see the visible signs of my pregnancy finally - it was so... _bizarre_... to think about the fact that something was living and _growing_ right below my naval - but it was hard to stay on cloud nine when your dearest love was trying his damn best to drag your happy mood down to Hell with him.

I growled in a way that wasn't too much unlike the source of my frustration.

"Damn you Slender man," I sighed quietly and dawned my clothes grudgingly. "Why can't you just be happy?"

'Damn _you_ Sky,' my subconscious sneered. 'Why _should_ he be happy?'

In response, I very politely told my subconscious to go to Hell.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! I can not begin to express my sorrow and regret over not being able to update recently. I've missed writing so much! But I just haven't had any time to be in the computer as of late in order for me to get my stories down. The school year is winding down and finals are coming up, as well as SATs; the musical that I have the female lead in is coming up in two weeks, so rehearsals have been monopolizing my time. Plus I'm helping plan and organize prom (which is the same week as the musical) and work is really busy right now because it's prom season and I work at a formal dress store. I also have to plan, create, and practice a lesson for a leadership conference I'm teaching at. Then you know, it's also kinda important to spend time with your family and friends and boyfriend and people like that. They get mad if you ignore them you know... Lol. Anyway, enough of my shameless rambling. Today's my birthday and I finally got some time to write some, so here's my birthday present to all of you! A new chapter! xD Enjoy please, and I'm sorry if a bit of time passes between updates. I'm doing my best I swear. Bear with me please ;P**

**- Erin**


	7. Chapter 6

My first ultrasound was today. I nervously sat in the doctors office, waiting - again.

I was a little concerned about what the picture would show. Suppose it wasn't human, like Slendy feared, what was I going to tell the nurse? I didn't expect she would take it very calmly.

I could hear myself saying, 'Oh well, its daddy's the Slender man. No big deal, it's supposed to have tentacles.' I grimaced at the thought.

I'd kept a brave face around my boyfriend, but if truth be told I was terrified. After our argument the day I told him I was pregnant, I'd thought long and hard. The more I looked at the situation, the more I started to realize that there was actually a very large chance of this ending badly for me. I might just actually die for this child.

And strangely, as scared as I was, I was okay with that. Well, maybe not 'okay' with it, but I wasn't going to abort the fetus. I was its mother. It deserved nothing but my unconditional love. This tiny, new life inside of me was totally dependent on me. It had a future. It could grow up to be a doctor or lawyer or the president...

'Or a killer,' my subconscious sneered. She thought I was nuts for following through with this pregnancy.

No. My baby wouldn't be a killer. I would make sure of that if it was the last thing I did.

'And if it kills _you_?' my subconscious asked, and I had no answer for that.

I decided to think about it later as the nurse spread a warm jelly over my stomach. It was strange feeling, but not totally unpleasant.

"How far along are you Miss Steele?" she asked as she fiddled with the machine.

"Five months," I responded automatically.

She smiled at me. "If you're lucky, we might just be able to determine the baby's gender," she said.

I smiled back meekly. 'If I'm lucky, it'll have eyes and a mouth. And no tentacles,' I thought to myself, mentally crossing my fingers.

I couldn't look at the monitor as the woman pushed the wand against my swollen belly. The speakers from the monitor blared a staticky, wish-washy sound. After a second of her moving the wand around for just the right spot, a small thumping noise joined it.

I froze, slowly turning to look at the screen, scared about what I might see. The screen was varying shades of black and gray. At the center was a roundish object that moved slightly with each thump.

"That sound is the baby's heart beat," the nurse informed me.

I continued to stare at the screen in awe. "And is that...?"

"Yes ma'am. That's the baby's head." She adjusted the wand so the screen showed a different angle. "Look there's the face."

My breath caught in my throat. I peered closely at the screen.

Oh thank God.

Two little eyelids fluttered in the baby's face on either side of its nose. Below that, it's mouth was turned down in a tiny frown.

Just seeing that it wasn't faceless was enough to bring tears to my eyes. The nurse didn't seem to find my display of emotions unusual, however. Maybe expecting parents usually got a little teary-eyed at seeing their unborn child. Me? Simply seeing that it had eyes was enough to make me cry.

I wished Slendy was here to see this. He'd been so stressed over the past three months about the possibility of me not surviving this adventure. We hadn't discussed it too much since the big argument, but I knew it was still eating him up. He was still sinking further and further into a dismal abyss every time he looked at my growing stomach. It made me sad to see him so depressed over our child. I wished that he was here so that he could see this little face - see that it wasn't a monster. Maybe then he'd stop worrying.

"Can you take pictures of the screen?" I asked the nurse shyly. Picture evidence might help win over my Tall One.

"Of course." She pressed a button on the keyboard. "Would you like me to look and see if I can determine the baby's sex?"

My eyes lit up. "Yes please," I gasped.

She moved the wand around looking for the right angle. After a while she shook her head at me. "I'm sorry Miss Steele, the baby's at the wrong angle. I can't tell."

I tried to keep the disappointment out of my eyes. "Oh, okay," I said trying to sound nonchalant.

The nurse rubbed the wand around some more and snapped a couple more pictures. I stared transfixed at the screen the whole time. I couldn't believe that the tiny being on screen was inside my body. It was alive. It was growing.

And it appeared human.

I knew that there was still the possibility it wasn't completely human though. The fact that it had a face didn't completely debunk the baby Slender theory. Tentacles would still be a problem... even if we hadn't seen evidence of them yet.


	8. Chapter 7

As I left the hospital, clutching the ultrasound pictures in my hand, I hoped that maybe Slendy would get out of his three month funk now. I missed the man I'd fallen in love with...

He was waiting for me in the car. He had the passenger seat reclined and was staring up at the ceiling. His long slender limbs fit awkwardly in the cab, and I swallowed a small giggle. The man looked so out of place in a vehicle. It amused me every time.

He didn't look at me when I opened the driver's side door and climbed in. He was still sinking.

"Any news?" he asked softly in a dead, emotionless voice.

I don't know why I hesitated to tell him. Maybe I was upset by how distant his voice sounded. Maybe it was just frayed nerves from him barely even touching me lately, like I was some fragile thing you saw in the antique store your patents dragged you to when you were little - look, but don't touch. He needed to pull himself together, dammit! He was the Slender man! Tall, dark, smart, strong, dangerous. He feared _nothing_. Why couldn't he just take this in stride like he did with everything else in life? The man had lived for centuries, and you mean to tell me his girlfriend's complicated pregnancy is enough to spiral him into a depression? After three months of dealing with him like this, I chose that moment to finally snap.

"Slender, sit up," I demanded, my voice sounding confident, authoritative, and totally pissed off.

He jerked his head to look at me in surprise. He leaned up on his elbow, peering at me. "Yes?"

"I want you snap out of the mood you've been in. It's not helpful," I told him none too gently. A small part of me realized I was being an ass, but I didn't care at the moment. He was being an ass too.

He just stared at me.

I glowered at him. "I mean it. Everything will be fine! Look!" I shoved the ultrasound snapshot at him, pointing to the fetus's face.

Slowly, his eyes never leaving the paper, Slendy reached out and took the pictures from me. "It has a face..." he murmured in what sounded like awe.

"Yes, it does. Now stop worrying, because everything is going to be fine," I snapped. I waited, watching his expression, trying and failing to read him. He almost looked speechless, but I wasn't sure if it was the good kind or the bad. Then I climbed over the center console and nuzzled into his lap. He froze for a moment, then hesitantly wrapped his arm around me. I ran nose along his throat and was rewarded with his sharp intake of breath. "I've missed you," I confessed.

"Missed me? Did I go somewhere little one?" he asked bemused as he ran his fingers up and down my arm, making my skin tingle where he touched me. His touch was gentle as a feather.

"You've been acting so strange. It was like it wasn't even you," I said, the sadness in my voice evident.

His lips brushed my hair. "I'm here my little Sky. This is me. I never left."

"Are you gonna start acting normal again?" I asked hopefully, looking up at him.

"When has anything about me ever been 'normal?'" He smiled. That smile was a welcoming sight. I hadn't seem it in so long. The whole car seemed to light up with its appearance.

I giggled. "Good point. But you know what I mean," I said. "Normal for you," I clarified.

"Yes, I'll to act normal." He sounded amused. That made me even more hopeful that things really were going to be better.

"Promise?"

"I promise." And that was good enough for me. The Slender man always kept his word.

A tiny nudge startled me. "Oh!" I gasped and jumped.

"What?" Slendy asked, alarmed.

"It moved!" I squealed excitedly. A grin so wide that it felt like it would split my face in half grew uncontrollably.

Slendy looked wary for a second, so on impulse I grabbed his hand and laid it palm down on my belly. He froze.

"Wait," I commanded. A second later another tiny movement nudged against the Tall One's hand. He gasped too and stared at my stomach transfixed.

I was bubbling with joy inside. Today had turned out better than I could have ever hoped. My baby was healthy and at least partly human. My boyfriend had hopefully finally shrugged off his mood, and now he was looking at the spot where the child he had abhorred grew as if it was a miracle that is was really there - which it was. It was our little miracle.

'Hmm, Miracle. What a pretty name,' I thought. I'd have to consider that one if it was a girl.

But names could wait. I had plenty of time still. Four months in fact...

* * *

**A/N: Hello my wonderful readers! Thank you so much for sticking with me through my little break. The musical's over now, I took my SATs this morning, and with there only being two weeks of school left, really the only thing I have to worry about is finals and a few AP test. Soooo, hopefully what this means is that I'll have more time for writing! Yay! :D Thank for all of you guy's patience, support and understanding!**

**I also want to take a moment to point out that this story already has 75 followers! Holy dghdaklgjha! That's amazing! You guys are truly awesome, do you know that? There's been a couple times where I've almost given up on this story, but then every time, with out fail, someone post a comment and encourages me to keep it going. You all inspire me and I thank you guys for it. I thank you for the praises, the criticism, the ideas, everything! Y'all rock :D**

**On another note, I made a deviantART account, and while I haven't posted anything yet, I plan on posting some of my drawings of the characters. I'm not too familiar with the website and how it works, so if any of you guys who have an account wanna help me out, shoot me a PM please? :)**

**Thanks guys, stay awesome, and keep reading, cause the story's gonna start heating up soon...**

**- Erin**


	9. Chapter 8

The Slender man growled. "No Sky!"

"Slendy, we have to," I sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. We'd been having this argument for almost an hour now, and I just couldn't seem to convince him to see it my way.

"I am _not_ going to do it!"

"Please?"

"No."

"Slender..."

"Why on God's green earth would you _want_ to anyway?"

"It's not a matter of want, it's a matter of what's right."

"I am the _SLENDER MAN_!" he yelled. "I DON'T _GIVE _A DAMN WHAT'S RIGHT!"

I rolled my eyes. "Stop over reacting."

"I am not!" His tentacles were slithering madly behind him.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"I am not going to do it and that's final!"

I stood up. "Fine. Then I will."

He froze. "You wouldn't - you can't. You don't even know how," he said.

He had a point. How _did_ this work? "Tell me," I said. It wasn't a request.

"Sky, sometimes you are so stubborn," Slendy growled in frustration.

"Please?"

He glared at me, which was quite a feat considering he had no eyes. "You're not going to give up on this, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

He groaned. "Sky..."

I sighed again. "How hard is it to tell your own brothers that they're gonna be uncles?"

"Unfathomably hard when its _my_ brothers!" he exploded.

"Just tell me how to contact them and I'll do it!" I tried.

"You can't," he sighed. "It's a Slenderfolk thing - since we can't use phones to communicate over long distances... It's quite like a mental connection - telepathy I believe it's called." He flopped down on the couch and through his arm over his face. "I have to be the one to contact them," he whined.

I walked over and sat on the edge of the couch, then lay across him so my head was on his chest. He raised his arm to peer at me. "Please Slendy?" I asked. "For me?" I batted my eyelashes.

He groaned again. "Fine," he whispered hoarsely. Inwardly I did a victory dance. Battle won. "I still don't see why it is so important though. You _know_ as soon as they hear the news they're going to come visit, right? And we're going to have to put up with them," he complained.

"They're family. You kinda have to," I said.

"I don't 'have to' anything," he growled under his breath.

I tilted my head and kissed him. His frustrated growl turned to one of appreciation under my lips. "This actually means a lot to me," I said when we broke the kiss.

"Though I don't understand why," he said and I chuckled at his bemused tone.

"I know," I said with a small smile. "It won't be too bad though, trust me."

"I sure hope you're right," he said, and then he claimed my lips with his, effectively ending the conversation.

The next day Slendy sulked as he helped me clean up the apartment for company. He'd spoken to them the night before.

Of course they were coming.

* * *

**A/N: Bringin' Trendy and Splendy back! Whoo-hoo! xD In all honesty, the chapters with those two in it are the most fun to write, so I'm looking forward to the next couple of chapters :)**

**Poor Slendy, I almost feel bad for him ^^**


	10. Chapter 9

In a normal household, when you received visitors, they would arrive at your front door and politely knock or ring your doorbell.

In a normal household you'd go to the door, open it with a smile - whether you were happy to see them or not - and invite them in.

In a normal household there would be a moment of greetings and polite "hi, how are you?"s and "you look well"s that were exchanged.

But that was a normal household. If there was one thing I'd learned from living with the Slender man, it was that normal didn't exist for me anymore.

There was no knock on the door - our guests suddenly appeared in the middle of our living room, nearly giving me a heart attack despite the fact that I was expecting them. Slendy groaned in a way that begged, 'kill me now.'

The were no polite greetings, but rather loud yelling.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE PREGNANT!" the Trender man screeched. He grabbed my shoulders and held me at arms length while he looked me over with an almost mother-like concern.

Splendor man clapped his hands together and laughed like a little boy who'd found his favorite toy. "Wow! Who would've thought our little Slendy would be a daddy!" he squealed.

Slendy raised his brow. "Little?" he growled.

Splendy giggled and wrapped his arm around his younger brother. "Yep, widdle baby brother, I'm happy to say that you're finally growing up," he snickered.

Slendy gave his polka dotted suit clad brother a hard shove. "Get off me you rainbow spotted, empty-headed, over enthusiastic fungus," he complained with a hiss. "And speaking of growing up Splendor, maybe you should try acting your own damn age for once!"

Meanwhile Trendy had swept me up in hug. "This is sooooooo fabulous!" he nearly sang. "Is it a boy or a girl? Did you pick a name yet? When's the big day?" he started firing off questions.

"Trender," Slendy sighed as he finally managed to peel his second oldest brother off of him, "give her a moment to answer before you ask the next question." He walked over swiftly and pulled me from the Trender man's arms and into his own, almost like he was protecting me. That made me giggle.

"Unknown gender, no name yet, and mid November," I answered evenly. I shot Slendy a look that said, 'I've got this.' I smiled reassuringly. He sighed and pressed a long pale finger against his temple.

His brothers irritated him to no end, and I knew it. He would have happily went another couple centuries without the grace of their company and not shed a tear. He was actually doing quite well today - I was impressed. The last time I'd seen these three in the same room, Slendy and Trendy were already wrestling on the floor by this point. Slendy was trying. He really was trying for me.

"Mid November?" Splendy exclaimed, "Why that's only three months from now!"

I smiled and rested my hand on top of my belly. As if on cue, the little being growing bellow my navel nudged against my hand. "Yep."

Trendy put his hands on his hips and shot Slendy a distrustful look. "And we're only just now finding out?"

Slendy shocked me by smiling, but it was forced and devoid of humor. "Surprise," he said monotone.

Trender scoffed. "Thanks," he drawled sarcastically.

"Sky?" Splendor asked me quietly as the other two bickered.

"Hm?"

"Um... Have you... had an ultrasound done?" he asked. I was startled to see that the normal grin he always had plastered to his face had slipped. It only took me a second to realize that the same thought had occurred to him that had occurred to Slendy when I'd first told him that I was pregnant.

I smiled warmly at him. Despite Slendy's feelings of irritation towards his brother, I actually liked the tall, goofy man. He had a certain... care free, child-like innocence about him. It was almost contagious. "Yes. Would you like to see pictures? There's a really cute picture of its face," I told him.

His face lit back up in the way that I was used too. As I'd figured out with my boyfriend, 'face' was the magic word here. "Oooh! Yes, yes please!" he cheered.

I grinned and walked into the bedroom to grab the pictures. Behind me I could hear Trendy once again begging Slendy to wear something more fashionable than that 'horribly old and outdated suit.' He apparently did this every time the brothers saw each other.

"You've got to set a better visual example for Junior," Trendy scolded.

"I like my suit, thank you very much," a miffed Slendy growled in reply.

I walked back in the room and laughed.

Trender turned to me. "Sky hun, help me out here," he begged.

I grinned and shook my head, then tugged on Slendy's jacket lapel playfully as I walked by. "I like his suit too," I said. Slendy smiled at me and Trendy glared.

I handed the pictures to Splendor, who was now sitting on the couch, his beady black eyes wide and excited like a kid on Christmas. Inwardly I chuckled. He was so easily pleased.

"Awwwwww!" he sighed. Trender was at his side in a second, peering over his shoulder. He too cooed over the pictures.

Slendy put a hand on my shoulder and looked down at me with a loving smile. I returned the look and put my hand over his. "See, it's not so bad, is it?" I said.

He smiled ruefully. "Well _you_ certainly seem to be handling it better this time," he said, no doubt recalling my outburst the last time I'd met his brothers. "I'm not sure how much longer my patience can hold out though little one." He grimaced.

I got up on my the tips of my toes and have him a quick kiss. "Frankly, I'm amazed you've lasted this long." I shot a quick glance at the two oldest Slender boys. Over from the couch Trendy could be heard musing aloud about all the infant clothes he was going to design for us, while Splendy started singing, "Baby," by Justin Bieber.

Slendy face palmed. "Splendor, there are trillions of songs that have been performed throughout the ages, so why... in the name of God... are you SINGING JUSTIN BIEBER?"

"Hey! He has a nice voice!" Splendy objected.

"Then leave the singing to him and keep your mouth shut!" Slendy yelled.

Trendy shook his head with a tsk-tsk. "Haters," he mumbled disapprovingly.

Slendy growled in frustration.

I sighed. This was going to be a _long_ weekend.


	11. Chapter 10

I walked out of the bedroom the next morning, still in my pajamas, and set about making breakfast. From the kitchen I could see our guests snoozing away in the living room. Trendy had claimed the couch bed right away and was sprawled there, snoring lightly. Splendy was on the air mattress on the floor, hugging a teddy bear to his chest. He had a slight smile on his lips as he slept, probably dreaming about candy and rainbows and unicorns and glitter.

Just as I was finishing up the bacon, a tall, pale man in expensive looking red silk pajamas leaned against the counter next to me. "You slept in that?" he asked incredulously as he took in my baggy sweat pants and old t-shirt.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't realize that I was required to be red carpet ready even while I slept," I said sarcastically, but I smiled to let him know I was only joking.

He stroked his chin with long pale fingers in a thoughtful manner for a moment. Finally he said, "I think I'd like to take you shopping today. Just the two of us."

I sighed and grimaced. "Sadly one of the things about being pregnant is that all the cute clothes don't fit you anymore," I told him.

He put his hand on his hip. "Boo, I am the Trender man! By the time I'm done with you, you'll be the sexist prego girl there ever was! Don't worry, we'll find you something that even JLo would be jealous of," he promised with a smirk.

"Something I can afford hopefully?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. After all, I had a baby on the way. I didn't need to be spending several hundred on clothes for myself.

Trendy almost looked offended. "Of course I'm the one paying for it!" he exclaimed. When I started to protest he interrupted. "Think of it as an early baby shower present or something," he said. "Really, I insist."

I sighed and then smiled at him. "Okay, I guess," I agreed. "We'll leave after breakfast, if that fine with you?"

"Who's leaving after breakfast?" A voice asked from the doorway.

A smile spread across my face as I turned towards that oh so familiar voice. "Morning Slendy," I greeted him as I went over to him and got on the tips of my toes to give him a quick peck on the check. "Breakfast's almost ready. You want your egg over easy?"

He nodded. "Who's leaving after breakfast?" he repeated.

I started fixing his egg. "Trendy and I are gonna go shopping," I told him, looking up through my eyelashes to see Slendy's reaction.

He cocked his head to the side looking bemused. "You want to go shopping? With _him_? Why?"

Trendy puffed up his chest at the indignity. "Brother!" he gasped, "Just because _some_ people," he looked Slendy up and down pointedly, "don't appreciate fashion doesn't mean all people do!"

Slendy raised his brow. "Her sense of fashion isn't what I was questioning," he said coolly.

Rolling my eyes I held Slendy's breakfast out to him. "You should've started questioning my sanity a long time ago," I joked.

He took the plate and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Oh believe me, I have," he said with a grin.

I giggled and turned back to Trender, who was just staring at the two of us in amusement. "And how do you like your eggs?"

An hour later I had eaten, showered, and was dressing for my shopping trip when it occurred to me. How was Trender - just as inhuman looking as his brother - going to go shopping in public? I mentally face palmed for not think about that before.

I came out of the bedroom wearing a loose gray and purple striped sundress that was still tight over my stomach for all that it wasn't fitted - it was one of the few remaining articles of clothing that I had that weren't maternity and still fit me - and my purple converse.

"Hey Trender?" I called.

"In the powder room hun!" I heard him reply. "Just finishing up my make up!"

'Make up?' I thought questioningly. I walked towards the open bathroom door and peered inside. The counter top was strewn with all assortments of powders and gels and make ups that looked like what you would find in a Hollywood dressing room. The man reflected in the mirror was so different from what I had expected, I gasped aloud. Before me was the Trender man ... with a face.

He dabbed a bit of powder on his cheeks and looked at me in the mirror. He grinned at my expression. "How do I look?" he asked.

He looked, well, amazing! His clothes were stylish and completely wrinkle free. He wore his normal dark jeans and white dress shirt, but wore a brown sweater vest instead of a regular sweater. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and a single gold chain bracelet hung from his left wrist. He was still shockingly pale white, and his face had the same long slender shape, but he'd used the make up to add dimension to his face and added just a hint of color along his cheek bones. He'd also drawn in eyebrows and there was a pale blonde wig on head head, artfully fluffed and styled to give it a perfect-without-trying look. The wig also served to hide the fact that he lacked ears. To anyone not in the know, they were just hidden in the shaggy mess of hair. Just the slightest hint of pink was on his lips to define his mouth, which usually would have been invisible when it was closed. The only problem were his eyes. There was still nothing there.

"Wow Trendy, you look great," I said. "But what about...?" I trailed off and gingerly I pointed to my own eye, my unfinished question quite clear.

He chuckled and pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his back pocket and put them on, effectively hiding his last inhuman feature. "Ta-da!" he sang.

I was quite impressed. He actually looked like a normal human, and not a bad looking one either - he was actually fairly handsome.

I grinned widely at him. "So this is how you go out in public," I said. It all made sense now.

"Mhmm," he said while he used a small brush to add a little more color and definition to his lips. When he finished that he turned to me and took in my appearance. He shook his head, but didn't comment on my outfit, which surprised me. I'd been expecting a disapproving outburst at my mixing sneakers with a dress and lack of make up.

When Trendy and I walked into the living room, Splendy took one look at his older brother and snickered. I could tell that if Slendy had had eyes, he would have just rolled them. Trendy showed them a rude gesture and I giggled at the crude display of brotherly love. Then Trendy grabbed my hand. "Come on Sky, let's go have some fun!" he said excitedly.

I barely had time to squeak out a good-bye to the two younger Slender brothers and blow Slendy a kiss before we were gone, slender walking into the back corner of the mall. I blinked in confusion. This wasn't the mall near the apartment. I'd never been here before. This mall was too fancy and WAY to expensive looking to be any place I would have been familiar with. A couple walked by us, talking quickly in some other language that I recognized as French. I looked up at Trender.

"Welcome to my beautiful Paris," he said, sounding overly excited and a little proud. He inhaled deeply and smiled "My, it's good to be home."

* * *

**A/N: Good day my beautiful peoples! I just wanted to give a quick shout out to ****_casshill_**** who made some amazing fan art! Check it out below ;D**

**casshill. deviantart. /art/A-Slender-Chance-A-Slender-Child-375905926?ga _submit_new10%253A1370373212**

**(Just get rid of the spaces and put com in between deviantart. and /art.)**


	12. Chapter 11

"You... teleported me... to a whole other country, just to go... shopping?!" I demanded incredulously.

"Believe me boo, it's worth it," was his dismissive reply.

The Trender man looked thrilled to be back in his home country. He was grinning in a way that was not unlike his middle brother. It looked natural though - human even - paired with the make up. I couldn't help it. A smile crept across my face too. Trendy grabbed me by the hand and started towing me off towards some store. "Come on Sky, let's have some fun!"

Okay, so the shopping wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. I had expected not to find anything that fit me - or at least not anything that fit me and looked _good_ at the same time. Trendy knew what he was doing though, I had to admit. Everything he put me in looked striking once on, even with the belly.

We talked as we shopped - got to know each other a little better. Trendy went on and on about different designers he'd met and worked with, not noticing that there names all went right over my head. Clothing was quite simply his thing - where Slender's was killing and Splendor's was happiness, Trender's was fashion.

He also talked about his childhood some, which intrigued me - Slendy never talked about his past much with me, and if I ever asked he simply said that it had been a very, very long time ago. Trendy, however, seemed to have no such qualms about speaking about his younger days though. Eagerly (and a little guiltily) I found myself taking advantage of the situation and pressing the tall man for more information.

"Well, our mother's tastes were more inline with Slender's..." Trendy told me over a clothing rack when I asked about their parents. "Father seemed to relate more with Splendor as far as I can remember, though he wasn't around much." A small v formed between his eyebrows as he thought back however many centuries ago it had been. "They died when Slender was still a baby. I was myself merely an adolescent. None of us remember how it happened... but I wish we did. So far we haven't found anything that _can_ kill us. It would be handy to know whatever it is that managed to off our parents." His smile was rueful and bereft humor.

"If y'all were just kids, how did you survive on your own?" I asked. He looked up from the skirt he was inspecting and flashed a sharp toothed grin. His teeth were bared in away that seemed more predator-like and threatening than friendly. I almost shuddered.

"Slender's not the only one that can kill. It's just that _he_ enjoys it - I could take it or leave it," he explained, and I did shudder then.

Trendy went on with his story. "I was the oldest, so I took care of my little brothers - hunted for them until they were able to hunt for themselves. Splendor refused to hunt humans though. He was absolutely fascinated with them, but felt like it was wrong to prey on them."

"What did he eat then?" I asked. A part of me wondered if I should be worried that I could discuss all this talk of human hunting as calmly as I did.

"Animals, mostly, but he felt bad about that too. Eventually he ended up going vegetarian." I sensed him roll his eyes.

I chuckled. That sounded just like Splendy.

"Anyway, we were still in Germany at the time-"

"Germany?" I interrupted curiously.

He nodded. "That's where we were born. We all three lived there together until we were old enough to go our separate ways. Splendor went to Ireland while I went to France, and Slender stayed in Germany. Slender made a name for himself there pretty quickly as 'Der Ritter or Der Großmann.' Meanwhile I was discovering the wonders of fashion!" he exclaimed. After a dramatic pause he went on, "Splendor and I never strayed too far from our new homes after that, but Slender moved around quite a bit. During the twentieth century he went everywhere from Russia, to the UK, the America's, and then back to Germany. He was quite restless. He'd only been in the United States for about ten years before he met you." He put down the dress he was holding up to see how the length would fall on me and looked me straight in the eye. "You know, I really am very happy that he found you. I think you've become the one thing that can ease his wandering. You're his solid rock - his tether to reality. You've helped him see what Splendor and I tried to get him to see since the sixteen hundreds: that he's not a monster.

"Now, of course I don't know for sure - God knows he doesn't talk about anything with me - but I think that you make him feel like a different man. He grew up only knowing killing, only knowing survival. It became his normal - it was who he was. But when he's with you, I think... I think you make him feel like all of that doesn't matter anymore. _His_ survival doesn't matter to him anymore. Just yours.

"When we first met and Slender told me that he hadn't killed in weeks - for _you_ - that's when I realized it. He was trying to be human for you. He _hated_ humans all his life, just like our mother, and yet... He's trying to be one. For you. Congratulations Sky Steele, you changed the Slender man. You melted his heart of stone." He cupped my cheek with his hand and tilted my head up so that I couldn't look away. " And in a sense, you saved him. We all three owe you so much. Thanks boo."

I was blushing furiously. I really hadn't done anything. Slendy was the one who had saved _me_, not the other way around. I hadn't done anything to earn this gratitude except fall in love, and I wasn't sure that was something I could entirely control. "I really haven't done much Trendy..." I argued.

"Girl, don't be so modest," he scowled. "You've done miracles with that grouchy, fashion-senseless, bum." Only Trendy could insult someone like that and still make it sound loving. "Only thing that would make it even better would be if you could get him out of that musty old suit!"

'Oh the suit thing again,' I thought, but I grasped desperately at the subject change. Anything to get the topic away from me 'Might as go along with it...'

I giggled. "Maybe we should... get him something while we're out?" I suggested mischievously.

Trendy clapped his hand together and held them against his lips. "Now you're talking!" he cheered.

We paid for our purchases and Trender dragged me across the mall to a shop that he claimed as his favorite. One look inside and I threw my hand over my mouth to keep myself from busting out laughing.

'Oh, _this_ is going to be fun...' my subconscious laughed evilly.

* * *

**A/N: This felt like a two chapter sorta day for me I guess :) I've been shut up inside all day cause I've been sick so, you know, what better way to pass the time than writing?**

**Anyway, here is another beautiful fan art from ****_flanny-chan_**** of Splendy and Sky! Go check it out! DO IT!**

** flanny-chan. deviantart. /art /Can-t-BREATHE-378491260**

**(take out all the spaces and add 'com' after 'deviantart')**

**Gosh, I love it when you guys make fan art. I get all tingly and warm inside ^^ it's great, I love you all and I'm so grateful for your support throughout this story. Thank you everyone! Please don't forget to review, I love hearing what you guys have to say :D **

**- Erin**


	13. Chapter 12

"HELL NO!"

"Pleeeeeaase?"

"Get out of my house, Trender!"

"Brother, be reasonable now."

"And take this garbage with you!"

"GARBAGE?! I'll have you know that these clothes are of _the_ highest quality! I swear Slender, sometimes you are just so damn hopeless!"

I stood at the back of the room, leaning against the wall, and shaking with silent laughter. The Slender man and Trender man faced off in the middle of the living room, each with their slithering appendages swirling angrily behind them. Trendy clutched a shopping bag in his right hand.

"Just put them on!" Trendy yelled shoving the bag towards Slendy.

Slendy snarled, "NO!"

"Slender!" Trendy growled in warning.

"I will _not_ look like a damn HIPSTER!" He knocked the bag away from him, and the action sent it crashing to the floor. A pair of skinny jeans, a scarf, stripped t-shirt, and fedora spilled out of the bag.

I couldn't keep my laughter silent any longer. I nearly fell to the floor I was laughing so hard. Tears streamed down my face and I was gasping for breath. I loved Slendy, but man, this was _too_ priceless!

"Oh! Can I wear the hat since Slendy doesn't want it?" Splendy squealed when he saw the contents.

"Stay out of this!" his brothers snapped at him in unison and Splendy shrunk back, pouting a little.

I laughed even harder.

Slendy turned on me, "Oh yes, laugh it up Sky! _You_ were a part of this too!"

I _was_ on the floor now, and laughing so hard that I didn't have enough breath left to reply.

"What happened to you liking my suit?" he demanded.

"Love... The suit," I gasped. "But... I think... You would... Look great... In jeans too."

Slendy growled menacingly. "Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged!" Trendy promised with a snarl. And then they were at each other's throats, rolling around on my apartment floor, tentacles thrashing this way and that like a disturbed nest of snakes.

Splendor came over and sat next to me on the floor, shaking his head slowly as his brothers wrestled and shot mumbled oaths and swears at each other. "You're a little trouble maker Sky," he accused.

I shrugged, finally starting to get my laughter under control. "I blame the hormones."

Splendy snickered. "Yeah, sure," he said.

I looked up at him, feigning innocence. "You don't believe me?" I pouted, but I couldn't keep the humor out of my eyes.

He just rolled his eyes and smiled, but didn't reply. We both jerked our heads back towards the fight suddenly as a loud ripping noise sounded from the middle of the fray.

"_MY SWEATER_!" Trendy roared. He grabbed Slendy with his tentacles and threw him away from him. Slendy landed against the back wall with a thud, but before I had the chance to worry he was on his feet again. He took one second to appraise his brother standing there, furiously fingering the long frayed rip in his sweater vest that spread from the seam at his armpit to his navel, and then busted out laughing.

"Serves you right! Now _you_ can wear that stupid t-shirt!" Slendy mocked.

"You ripped my sweater you bitch!" Trendy's voice was about three octaves higher than normal in his outrage.

"It looks better like that anyway," he snickered.

"Fuck you!"

"Right back at you brother!"

"Hey! Hey! That's enough you two!" Splendy cut in.

I got up of the floor - with a little more difficulty than I wold have a few months ago - and walked over to the fuming Trendy to inspect the gash. "I could probably sew it up if you like," I offered.

He hunched his shoulders and gritted his teeth. "No, it's fine," he said gloomily. "I'll just buy a new one." And with one last glare directed towards the youngest slender brother, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, no doubt to go sulk somewhere and mourn over his deceased article of clothing.

I swear, I felt like a mom already dealing with these brothers. 'God I hope I don't have a boy,' I thought. 'Or worse, triplets.' Inwardly I shuddered and turned to walk into the kitchen, giving Slendy a quick kiss on the cheek as I walked by him. "I'm gonna go start dinner," I told him.

He smiled, his mood already flipped. He was so mercurial sometimes. "Let me know if you need any help."

I smiled back. "Yes dear."

As I left the room, behind me I heard Splendor ask, "Sooo... If you don't want that hat...?"

The Slender man growled.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: You guy are gonna hate me for where I'm ending this chapter... *laughs evilly* Just remember, if you hunt me down and kill me I wont be able to update! ^^**

* * *

It was two weeks till my due date, and I was as big as a house.

I laid on couch watching daytime TV and eating moose tracks straight out of the container. Damn these cravings.

Slendy teleported into the room just then and took in my appearance, which was probably considerably less than attractive at the moment. He raised his brow in amusement. "Can I have a bite, or were you not planning on sharing?" he asked, gesturing towards the ice cream.

I glared at him. "Hey, I can't help it, okay?"

He chuckled and sat on the edge of the couch. "Bite?" he asked again, a smile playing at his lips.

I rolled my eyes and scooped a spoonful and held it up to his mouth. A chuckle rumbled in his chest as he ate it. "Thank you," he smirked. His face was so close to mine, I could feel the chill on his breath from eating the ice cream. I inhaled deeply the sent of him. Mmm. Peppermint.

He leaned forward and kissed me softly. "I now understand that human expression of a woman with child 'glowing.' You're positively radiant my little one," he said.

I giggled. "Please, spare me."

"I'm not kidding! You, my love, are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen," he insisted.

I shoved him playfully. "Oh shut it. You're such a kiss up."

"Hmm, kiss up? I can live with that," he grinned and leaned in to me again.

"Slendy! Seriously!" How could this man still make me blush like this, even after all these years? "I'm like, huge." I stuck my tongue out in disgust.

He sighed. "No Sky, you're pregnant. There's a difference." He brushed my hair behind my ear. "And you're still beautiful, no matter how 'huge' you get." Gently he splayed his pale hand over my swollen stomach. Right on cue the baby squirmed beneath his touch, and Slendy smile.

I smiled too. "It's been moving around so much recently. I think it's getting cramped," I said. Poor kid.

Slendy leaned his forehead against my belly. "Don't worry little one. Not too much longer now," he whispered to our unborn child.

I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I thought I was your little one?"

He looked up at me startled for a moment, then noticed that my expression was joking. He grinned. "Well, I think the baby will mostly likely have you beat in the size deficiency department."

I glared at him. "It better if I've gotta squeeze this thing out."

Slender was serious in an instant. "You know Sky, I do wish you would consider a Caesarian section. There's too much of a risk of complications."

I sighed. "Slendy, we've been through this. I want to do it myself!"

"Yes, yes, I know. Stubborn as always," he said scowling.

I reached up and stroked his face. "Don't worry Slendy, I'll be alright."

He grabbed my chin and ran his thumb over my lip while he seemed to take in every detail of my face. "You'd better be." There was a long pause that seemed to stretch forever as we just gazed at each other.

"You know, we still haven't picked out any names," I said finally.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"I kinda like Robin," I said slowly.

"For a boy or a girl?" he wondered.

"Girl. Robin Kaylee. Jason Thomas if it's a boy."

Slendy considered it for a moment. "If it's a girl, I want its middle name to be Sky," he requested. I made a face. Named after me? Really? He must be joking. "What? It's a beautiful name," he said in a smoldering voice that made my insides melt.

I caved. "Alright, fine. Robin Sky. But on one condition," I bargained.

He raised his brow. "And that is?"

"I want you there when it's born."

Slender stared at me. "Excuse me?"

"You heard."

"Sky... Have you forgotten the fact that I don't exactly look human?" He waved a hand in front of his blank face.

"Trender made himself look human with make up," I said.

Slender narrowed his eyes - or would have if he'd had any. "I'm not wearing make up."

"Please?" I begged.

"No Sky. I'm not my brother, and incase you hadn't noticed, I'm straight."

I rolled my eyes. "Well duh!" I giggled. "And the make up doesn't mean you're gay! Besides, no one but me would even know you're wearing it."

"I would know," he growled.

"So?"

"I'm not doing it."

"But I want you there with me..."

He hesitated and I bit my lip in anticipation. He looked at me and sighed. "Of course I'll be there," he said, and I started to smile. "But I'm not wearing make up."

"Slendy..." I whined. "How do you expect to blend in?"

"Sunglasses," he said simply.

"And your ears?"

"I'll wear a hoody."

A gasped dramatically. "You're going to wear something _other_ than a suit?" I couldn't hide my amused grin.

"If it's that or make up, it's really the only choice I have," he mumbled sullenly.

"What about your mouth?"

"I have a mouth," he protested.

"But it's nearly invisible except for when you're talking," was my rebuttal. "You know, with a little color to define it..."

"I'm _not_ wearing make up Sky," he said adamantly.

I gritted my teeth. He wasn't going to budge on this, I realized. Glowering at him, I swung my legs over the edge of the couch to stand up. "Don't blame me then when people start asking questions," I snapped.

"They won't. No one will pay me the slightest attention, I assure you. You and the baby will be everyone's main focus," he said.

I started to say something back as I stood, but stopped. Instead my mouth popped open in a strangled gasp as I felt something inside of me contract painfully. A sharp feeling, like a bolt of lightning, shot through my body from my groin and I clutched at my abdomen. "Ow," I winced. A wet, warm feeling registered with my senses and a light bulb in my head clicked on. Immediately I knew what was happening.

My subconscious was in a frenzied panic. 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Now?!'

Slendy was looking at me in alarm. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice tense.

Damn this really hurt. "Go get your sunglasses," I gasped. Apparently the kid couldn't wait two more weeks...

Well, at least we had a name now.

* * *

**A/N: Why do I get such a kick out of cliff hangers? Heehee I'm so evil xD So I guess you guys know what's coming up. We finally get to meet the little slender baby!... Assuming nothing goes wrong that is 0.0 *dramatic music***

**As always, please, _please_ leave a review. I really like hearing what you guys think!**

**-Erin**


	15. Chapter 14

Pain.

Pain was blinding white and smelled like rubbing alcohol and sterilizers. Pain was beeping monitors and IV needles in my arms. Pain was a convulsing mass and a suffocating pressure concentrated in my belly.

Before today, I thought I knew pain, but this... this was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.

My room was plain and uninteresting. The bright whites that screamed 'hospital' were the only elements of the color scheme besides a pale green strip that ran halfway up the wall, parallel to the floor. I focused on a spot on the white tile ceiling above me, trying to block out everything else - the pain, the nurses, Slendy pacing back and forth in front of the window in my little room.

Another contraction hit me like a wrecking ball and I moaned, causing Slendy to appear at my side in a heartbeat. He looked so peculiar - the cowl of his black hoody did a good job of keeping his face in the shadows. His sunglasses glinted beneath, effectively hiding his blank eyes. The tension radiated off of his body in waves, and I could tell he was frightened.

He grabbed my hand and I squeezed tightly. "Be strong, my Sky," he encouraged me. He gently brushed the hair from my sweat soaked forehead.

The nurse and the doctor were having a hushed discussion over by the door, and while I couldn't distinguish the exact words, I sensed an urgent tone in their voices. Apparently Slendy heard their tone too.

"Is something wrong?" he asked them without leaving my side.

The two women looked up. "Um," the younger of the two - a pretty blonde nurse - looked like she didn't know what to say.

The doctor, a middle aged brunet, put a smile on her face as she walked towards us, but the skin around her eyes were tight, giving away that she was actually a bit concerned. "Well, as we were just discussing, it appears, Ms. Steele, that you have gone into what is called 'prolonged labor,'" she informed us.

I blanched and Slendy went ridged. "What does that mean?" he asked tersely.

"Ms. Steele's been in labor for twenty hours now. At this point it starts to become a concern that she may not be able to deliver the baby on her own," she explained.

I groaned. 'No, no, _no_! I wanted to do this myself!'

The doctor continued, speaking to me. "We'd like to administer a medicine to you called oxytocin that will strengthen your contractions. If that doesn't work, then we'll have to prep you for a C-section."

"No C-section," I mumbled. I was so tired...

"Sky, listen to the doctor," Slendy commanded.

"I wanna push it out myself," I insisted weakly.

"I know Ms. Steele. Hopefully the oxytocin will work and the baby won't have to be delivered by C-section," the nurse said as she prepared to administer the meds. "If you can, it would probably be a good idea to get a little rest now."

I nodded, more than willing to give into sleep right now. 'Yes. Medicine. Rest. No C-section...' My eye lids slowly drooped closed and I felt Splendy gently kiss each closed lid.

"Rest my little one. Don't worry, I will protect you," he murmured softly.

I chuckled weakly. "Protect me from what exactly?" I asked.

"Everything."

There was a small smile on my face as I let sleep over take me...

* * *

Everything was so fuzzy. My head pounded, my body hurt, and I was mentally and physically worn out. I'd been in labor a total of twenty-three hours now.

"Sky..." I knew that voice. Blindly I reached for him.

"Slendy..." Cool smooth hands found mine.

"I'm here Sky." His voice was laced with pain and fear. He was scared of loosing me, just as he had in the beginning. He was scared I was going to die.

If truth be told, so was I.

"Ms. Steele?" That was the doctor.

"Hmm?"

"We're going to prep you for your C-section now," she said and my heart dropped into my stomach. "At this point it's become a concern that the baby may be in danger."

My brain was reeling. The baby was in danger? No, NO! I had to protect my baby... My little baby Sky-Slendy... I loved it. It depended on me... My little Slender child...

I was moving, or rather the bed I was lying in was. Beside me I felt more than heard the tall, thin man stride elegantly alongside. He had an atmosphere of darkness shrouded around him. Poor Slendy... I didn't like it when he worried like this - It couldn't be good for his health.

I chuckled weakly to myself. I was one to talk about health right now, considering I was probably dying...

"What's funny?" he asked softly.

"Nothin'..." I murmured softly, not having the energy to say much else.

"Mr... Slender?" I heard the doctor say.

"Yes?" Slendy answered tersely.

"We'll need you to change into these before you can go into the operating room." I couldn't open my eyes to see whatever it was that the doctor held out, but I imagined they were scrubs.

'Oh no,' I though, 'Slendy can't change. They'll see he has no face...'

"I can't... stay in what I have on?" he asked.

"Not if you want to be in the operating room," the nurse replied.

A small, low growl escaped his throat and I felt the atmosphere around him intensify. A faint hissing started ringing in my head. Oh shit, what was he DOING?

The nurse gasped. "You _will_ let me in as I am," he growled and the static intensified.

She whimpered and I wished desperately that I could force my eyes open so that I could see what was happening and possible stop Slendy from doing anything too stupid.

"O-of c-course. I-I don't know w-what I was th-thinking. S-so sorry sir," she stuttered in fear.

'Dammit Slendy! What did you do to the poor girl?' I yelled in my head, but at the same time was a little relieved that he was going to be there regardless. That was my last thought before I blacked out.

When I came to, I was acutely aware of bright - too bright - lights over head, and a sharp pressure in my abdomen. Thankfully though, there was no pain. I managed to drag my eyes open. "Slendy..." I searched.

There. I found his face over mine, looking down at me, and still hidden beneath glasses and a hood. "I'm here love. Don't worry, it's almost over." I smiled weakly at him.

"Okay, you're gonna feel some pressure here," the doctor's voice sounded from the other side of a screen that separated the upper and lower halves of my body from view. The feeling in my stomach intensified... And then it was gone.

Pause.

A shrill wail pierced the air. I could feel the tears streaming down my face as I heard the sound. It was such an amazing sound after all these months, after all the worry, after all the pain.

I was a mom.

Slendy was looking over the divider, completely awestruck by whatever it was he saw.

"It's a girl..." he whispered.

A girl...

Robin...

The tears started falling harder. "Let me hold her," I requested, and held my breath anxiously as the nurse came around the other side of the screen, holding a bundle of blankets in his arms.

I'll never forget the first time I saw my daughter's face.

Little Robin Sky Slender was perhaps the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen in my entire life. I held my child and cooed over her softly while her cries quieted. Slendy was kneeling next to the bed, also peering at the little miracle's face. I could tell that he too thought his daughter was the most beautiful thing alive, and that made me smile. He loved her - but who couldn't? She was perfect...

My little Robin.

* * *

**A/N: ERMERGERD IT'S A LITTLE SLENDER BABY GIRL! I hope you guys are happy with this chapter. I feel like y'all had some high expectations. I hope I didn't disappoint!**

**I just wanted to address something real quick. A couple people expressed their curiosity as to what the electrical equipment in the birthing room would do with Slendy around, and as you can see I didn't include that knowledge - there's a reason for that. Sky is lost in her own world of pain in this chapter. A _lot_ of what's going on around her is lost to her for obvious reasons, and as this is her POV, it didn't seem practical to me to include that little tidbit of information. Same reason why we don't know what Slendy did to 'convince' the nurse. As for what _really _happened? Eh, you can decide for yourself. What do _you _think happened? ;)**

**We're a little over half way through the story now, and as always I just wanna take a sec to say thanks for all the support and reviews and everything so far. This story has over 200 reviews! That is unbelievable! I never would have thought that my stories would ever get this great of a response. Thank you so much!**

**In other news, I've seen other authors on here do this, and I think it's something I'd like to do as well... Sooooo for every 100th review, whoever left the comment gets a one-shot related to the story dedicated to them! ****_Miss Rune_****, my amazing 200th review, be looking out for a PM from me ;D**

**Please don't forget to comment, favorite, and follow! Muchas gracias mi amigos xD**

**- Erin**


	16. Chapter 15

A high pitched wail pierced the night. I groaned and rolled over to bury my face in Slendy's chest.

"Your daughter is crying," Slendy grumbled.

"Before six am, she's _your_ daughter," I replied just as sleepily, but then sighed. Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed at about the speed of molasses and stumble my way down the hall towards Robin's nursery.

"Aw, Robin sweetie, what's wrong? Why're you waking Mommy and Daddy up so early?" I mumbled softly as I picked her up. She squirmed in my arms and I tucked her comfortingly against my breast. Softly I patted her back and bounced her up and down. "Shhh, hush now baby," I cooed softly. Eventually her screams quieted to small fussy noises and she stopped squirming quite as much. Softly, I began to sing to her. I'd never been much of a singer really, but Robin didn't seem to mind. The tiny person in my arms slowly stilled and drifted back to sleep. Her little eyelids fluttered from whatever she was seeing in her dreams and I couldn't help but smile at the sight. She was so beautiful.

Even in the dark nursery you could tell that the week old infant was exceedingly pale - even for a newborn. Her alabaster skin was barely tanner than her fathers and little dark black hairs covered her head. Her features seemed to resemble my own when I was a baby except for the thin little nose - that, like her complexion, was her fathers. Even while she slept, I could still remember her eyes. Those eyes... they were eyes that could stare into your soul, eyes that could get her anything she'd ever want, eyes that would have all the boys wrapped around her little finger one day. They were ghost eyes - somewhere between ice blue and grey - and startling sharp for a newborn.

Gently I laid the little pale beauty back in her cradle and attempted not to wake her as I snuck back out into the hallway and back to bed. Arms encircled my waist and lips pressed against my hair as I climbed under the covers.

"I figured you would've gone back to sleep once she stopped crying," I murmured, eyes already closed - I was so unbelievably exhausted. Robin insisted on waking at all hours of the night, every night, and even though it had only been a matter of days since we'd brought her home, I was already having a hard time coping with the lack of sleep.

"The bed wasn't as comfortable without you," he replied softly, his voice barely audible.

I smiled. "Well I'm here now, and the baby's asleep for at least a couple more hours."

"Thank God," he grumbled and I chuckled softly.

"Mhm..." I agreed. Parenting was great and all, but damn I missed sleeping...

I must have drifted off then, because suddenly I wasn't in bed any more, but rather standing in the middle of a large grassy meadow. The wind felt warm on my skin and the sun was hidden behind the clouds above me. It occurred to me briefly that I was dreaming, but I didn't linger on that detail for too long - I was too busy staring in awe at the pale little girl of about six that came running at me from the tree line across the meadow. I'd never seen this girl before, but somehow, in my dream state, I knew that it was Robin.

A smile started to split my face and I knelt to open my arms and embrace my daughter, but froze when the atmosphere changed.

Instantly I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what. I just had an acute instinct to protect my daughter - from anything and _everything_.

I woke with a start and sat up. "The fuck?" I whispered, panicked and disoriented.

"What is it?" the mumble came from somewhere in the dark beside me.

I shook my head slowly, waiting for my pulse to slow. 'Get a grip Steele,' my subconscious chided me.

"Nothing," I finally said. "Nothing but a bad dream."

"Don't worry little one," he said as he pulled me to him, "I'll protect you. Always."

'But it's not me I'm afraid for...' I thought, but I didn't say it out loud. The dream had meant nothing I was sure - just the product of my new maternal instincts. I remembered my own mother telling me about such nightmares before. She always said the worst dreams where the ones where my brother or I were in danger. I took a deep breath as I settled back into Slendy's arms. 'Everything's alright,' I told myself. 'It's just a dream. Robin's not in any trouble.'

'Yet...' My subconscious whispered.

* * *

**A/N: I know this chapter's a bit shorter than normal, sorry about that. I just needed something to go in between the last chapter and the next one, because it didn't work quite as well to go into the next part immediately. _Plus_, I know you guys wanted to know what Robin looks like - so there you go! She's a cutie ain't she? Hope ol' Slendy will be able to deal with all the little boys comin' around some day ^^ heehee, now _that_ would be funny to see.**

**Well enough of my rambling. Cheerio!**

**- Erin**


	17. Chapter 16

The baby was crying. Again.

"I have had it Sky!" the Tall One exploded, and the five week old in his long spindly arms started crying harder. "Every time I hold her, _every time_, she begins to scream!"

Wearily, I took Robin from him and gently bounced her up and down to try and quiet her. This _wasn't_ helping my headache. "She's almost _always_ crying. She's a baby. It's what they do," I sighed.

He shook his head. "But at least _you_ know how to make her stop!" he growled in frustration. Ironically, Robin chose that moment to quiet her cries to small, unhappy murmurs.

I rolled my eyes. "Just call it a mothers intuition or some crap like that," I replied while continuing to bounce the infant.

The Slender man growled and ran his hand over his face, and for a moment, looked more vulnerable than I had seen him in a very, very long time. His aura changed the air, clueing me in to just how frustrated - and to some degree bewildered - he was. Once again he was the lost, inhuman soul that he so rarely gave in to in front of me. Since we'd became a couple, he'd been able as time went on to increasingly appear - at least in behavior - more and more human-like. But at times like these? These rare moments when he let his guard down and dropped the human façade, I could see him, just as he had been when I'd first met him - wild, untamable, incomprehensible, bewildering, and inhuman. Parenting was just as new of an experience for him as it was for me, but I had to realize that he was even at more of a disadvantage on this than I was.

Sometime before Robin was born, back when we weren't sure how much Slenderfolk would be in the unborn child, Slendy had explained to me what it was like to be an infant of his kind, as well as how they were usually raised. The story itself would have been enough to make me remember it, but the fact that he never talked about his past, family, or species, had me hanging on every word he said.

"Slender children are quite different from human ones - beside the tentacles and the featureless complexions," he'd told me. "My kind... we are born strong - strong enough to kill - and we are born fairly intelligent. Our sense of intuition is much more than adequate, and even more so than humans. Our natural instinctual drive rivals that of most predators. We are born to hunt our prey. Even so, it is usually a few years before our young are able to hunt... successfully. It takes time to acquire the skills necessary.

"We also are very... characteristic. Each of us has a certain personality trait or a quality that defines us, and often these 'characteristics' are genetic and run in the family. The most common, of course, is the blood lust. The ones with that characteristic are like myself," he'd briefly flashed me a sharp-toothed, wolfish grin, "Then you also have those who are like Splendor, who are known for their unmanageable charisma and energy, or Trender, who are known for a certain trade or skill."

"You speak as if you three aren't the only Slenderfolk," I'd said slowly, my mind spinning around the idea that there could be more like him and his brothers.

He'd looked away from me then, almost sadly. "Once upon a time there was, a very long time ago..."

I'd bit my lip, wondering what he was thinking that made him look so sad. "What happened?" I'd asked softly.

He'd sighed. "I don't know... My parents weren't around long enough to teach me, or my brothers for that matter. Even before their deaths, they weren't exactly the let-me-teach-you-something parenting type in any case - none of my kind are. It goes against our nature - our instincts. It makes the child stronger and more independent to grow up on its own, for the most part. A parent Slenderfolk's biggest contribution to their child's survival is to hunt for them until they can do it themselves. After that... they're on their own." The Tall One had ran his hand over his face, looking a bit stressed. "It's not in our nature to be good parents," he'd said softly.

That last sentence came back to me now, and it hit me full in the face what was really bothering Slendy - he was scared of being a bad father. He didn't have a clue what he was doing, and he'd never had an example to learn from. I'd grown up in a loving family and watched my parents raise myself and my little brother. Slendy on the other hand was the youngest child of two beings that didn't really believe in the concept of, or have any instinctual notion towards parenting, and had died when he was a baby in any case. If what he'd said about his kind was true, then I also had to believe that he didn't have any paternal instincts himself either. He was out of his element here.

I stepped forward and leaned into his chest, cradling our child between us. "It's okay," I consoled him. "We're both learning how to do this."

"But little one... what if... what if she doesn't like me?" he whispered. "What if that is the reason she always screams when I hold her."

"Slender don't be ridiculous-"

"I'm a child murder Sky. What if she can sense that?"

"There's no way she could-"

"I'm a monster. What if that's what she sees when she looks at me? What if that's why she screams?" he demanded.

I opened my mouth, but then closed it. I had no reply. Of course I didn't believe the man before me was a monster, but how would you expect an infant to know that the faceless man that made the air around him feel funny wasn't what he seemed?

"You need to get these thoughts out of your head," I said finally. "Regardless of what she sees you as now - when she's too young to understand anything - when she's old enough to know you, she will love you," I promised him.

"How do you know?" he retorted darkly.

I reached up on my tippy-toes and kissed his cheek. "Because you're her father. It's in _her_ nature to love you," I said. "Just like it's now my nature to love you."

That managed to get a very small smile out of him. "I love you too little one."

I passed the now no longer crying baby back to him. He peered down at the child and she stared back up at him - ghost eyes meeting no eyes. So gently that you might think she was made of glass, the Operator tucked her against his chest. "And I love you too, my littlest one, even if you don't love me," he murmured to her and softly kissed the top of her head.

Unfortunately, just then she started crying.

_Again._

* * *

**A/N: Aw, poor Slendy. It's just one thing after another for the poor guy isn't it? ^^**

**So I posted the one-shot for the 200th review of Slender Child a couple days ago called "Slendy Claus," And if you haven't yet you should go check it out ;) Also, I'm currently working on another one-shot which hopefully I can have posted soon in dedication to ****_I Am Code _****for the 200th review of my first story, "A Slender Chance." I'm quite enjoying writing these one-shots, so please keep reviewing so we can make it to the next hundredth and I can write another one! :D**

**As always, thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews guys. Y'all are the best! Keep it up and stay awesome my friends**

**- Erin**


	18. Chapter 17

The park was warm for this time of year. Not short sleeves warm, but comfortable-in-long-sleeves-and-no jacket warm. We were in a more reclusive area of the park - one Slendy had found on one of his many nights out apparently - which meant that we didn't have to worry about any by passers causing a scene when they noticed the young mother and her child laying on a blanket in the grass with the Slender man stretched out beside them. That wasn't exactly something most people saw everyday, you know?

This was nice - Slendy and I hadn't really done much together since the baby was born, and even though she was here with us, she wasn't crying for once. _That_ was certainly a relief.

Without any eyes to indicate whether he was sleeping or not, I couldn't quite tell if my partner was currently conscious or not, though I suspected he was out cold. He hadn't said anything, or moved so much as an inch for some time now, so I decided to let him sleep. He'd been so exhausted lately - we both had in fact - but I managed to push through it somehow. Usually Slendy did too, but understandably, the relaxing combination of the warm sun, fresh air, and soft blanket had been enough to put him to sleep. I smiled softly as I gazed at him. The poor myth deserved a break.

I sat there with Robin in my lap and quietly talked and played with her. The sun shone off of her wavy raven hair and made little rainbows on the strands while her pale cheeks were flushed a little from the excitement of play and a new place. Looking at the beautiful little life before me, it was hard to believe that she'd been inside my belly only four months ago. My how the time had flown.

I made faces at the little baby and she chortled happily. I loved it when she was in a good mood like this. It was times like these when I enjoyed mother hood the most.

Not that the rest of the time wasn't amazing as well. Parenting was... an experience to say the least. You learned a lot, in very short amount of time, and it seemed, so far at least, as if you never _quit_ learning either. Everything was so new still, even after four months.

Parenthood was also terrifying. Those moments when the baby would roll over unexpectedly and almost fall off the edge of the bed, those moments when you literally dove to save her as if she were a priceless glass vase in a television sitcom - the ones where you know two minutes into the show the irreplaceable glass object is going to get bumped off its table - and then BAM. Dive on the floor, suffer carpet burn, save the vase.

There was also times where I would just sit there while she slept, and wonder at what sort of a person she would be. Would she be happy in life? What sort of trouble would she get into? Would she be a hard worker? A fighter? A lover? Would she be successful? I had so many questions to worry about for this little life - I wanted nothing but the best for her. She _deserved_ nothing but the best.

My perfect little Robin.

I knew her life would be different than most girls. After all, most girls didn't grow up with a father who was infamously known as a child murderer and a monster, even if he'd ceased to be so years before. Most girls didn't have to grow up with a father they wouldn't be able to tell anyone about. That made me sad. Robin would miss out on normal little girl things, like the daddy daughter dance in elementary school, or even, later on down the road - _much_ later on hopefully - getting walked down the isle by her father. How would all this affect her?

And then there where other things I had to worry about... Like how and when I was going to tell my family and friends that I'd had a kid. During my pregnancy, after I'd started to show, I'd refused to see any of them - I didn't know how to explain. For all they knew, I hadn't had a boyfriend since I was a junior in high school. How the hell would I have gotten pregnant? I kind of wondered just how bad it would actually be if I told my family the truth - that I was dating the Slender man and had given birth to his child - but I was scared as to how they would take the news. In my head I could see Dad polishing his gun, and I almost laughed. Pft, as if a gun would actually do anything to the Operator.

Robin grabbed a fist full of my hair and yanked, literally pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Baby girl, what do you think you're doing?" I scolded her playfully.

Robin just giggled.

I giggled too and played 'peek-a-boo' with her for a while. Her little laughter was so cute and infectious, she was like my own personal ball of sunshine. I swept her up over my head and bounced her up and down, careful not to let my hold slip. I brought her down swiftly, then held her back up, playing with her. I brought her back down and kissed her nose.

"I'm gonna getcha!" I exclaimed and rubbed my face against her's saying, "Nom-nom-nom-nom!" Robin squealed and giggled gleefully.

I heard a deeper chuckle from beside me and glanced over at the source of the noise. Slendy had his hands folded over his stomach in a relaxed way and he was looking at me with an adoring crooked smile on his lips.

I smiled apologetically. "Sorry, did we wake you?" I asked.

He shook his head, "It's fine. In any case, I quite enjoy watching you play with her." He grinned, "You know, I must say, her laughter is much more welcoming to wake to than her cries."

I laughed. "I can agree to that!"

He extended his arms towards us. "May I hold her?" he asked.

I blinked. Wow, Slendy almost never held Robin. He'd convinced himself after just a few weeks that holding her only made her cry. Despite my efforts to persuade him that that wasn't the truth, he'd made a point not to hold her unless necessary. "Why make her unhappy if she doesn't have to be?" he'd asked me sadly one time.

"Of course," I said, and hand the baby to him. 'Please don't cry Robin. Please, please, please don't cry!' I begged silently. If she cried now, I'd have almost zero chance of getting Slendy to hold her again any time soon.

The Tall One sat his daughter on his chest and smiled at her warmly, and perhaps a little hesitantly - no doubt waiting for her giggles to subside and turn to screams.

"Hello my little one," he said softly.

Pause. I held my breath and waited to see her reaction.

Robin giggled and grabbed a fist full of her father's blood red tie and tugged on it with all the strength her little hands could muster. I breathed a sigh of relief

A grin stretched across Slendy's face. "You like my tie little one?" he asked, sounding both relieved and excited.

I leaned my head against Slendy's arm, smiling affectionately at the sight of my two favorite people getting along. Today was a good day. It was nice to get out of the house for once - it was nice to take a break.

Lord knows we all three needed a break.

* * *

**A/N: D'awwww, isn't it adorable? Gosh I love Robin. Babies are just too stinking cute. And did anyone catch the hint as to what the next chapter's going to bring? You probably did, I've never been good a subtle hints ^^ But, if you didn't, I'll give you a clue: It's something y'all have been asking me to write.**

**In other news, the one-shot for the 200th review of "A Slender Chance" had been posted. Make sure and check it out! :D**

**- Erin**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: yeah, so I'm not subtle ^^ Pretty much everyone caught the hint. Congrats, you are all too smart for me xD**

* * *

"Slendy... We need to talk about something." I decided that night to broach one of the topics I'd been wondering about in the park earlier.

Robin sat on the floor, completely absorbed in playing with the soft rubber ball she was gumming and giggling happily to herself. Slendy was sitting on the couch, comically curled around my Reader's Digest edition of "Pride and Prejudice." He looked up at me when I spoke.

"Yes?"

"I haven't talked to my family since I was about four months pregnant," I said.

He just stared at me, as if not quite understanding where I was going with this statement.

"That was nine months ago," I continued.

"Yes?" he repeated, still not getting it obviously.

"I'd like to see them again," I said bluntly.

"Why don't you then?" he asked, confused.

"Well... Because I don't know how to tell them about Robin..." I sighed.

The Slender man furrowed his brow. "Oh..." he frowned as he finally understood. "How are you expecting to inform them? Do you have a cover story already?" he asked.

I grimaced and ran my hand through my hair in agitation. "I've thought about a couple scenarios," I spoke slowly to the floor. For some reason I couldn't find the strength to look my boyfriend straight it the eye (well, figurative eye) as I prepared to ask the question that had been burning at the back of my mind for a while now. "But honestly Slendy..."

"...Yes?" he looked instantly wary, clued in by my body language and tone of voice no doubt.

"I think it's time that..."

He just waited.

"I mean, I was wondering if..."

Silence.

"...Do you think...?"

He sighed impatiently. "Just get on with it Sky."

"Can I... tell them about... you?" I winced as the words left my mouth. Surely he would say no.

And I was right. "Absolutely not!" he exclaimed and stood up.

"Slender, please..." I begged.

"What good would it do you? Honestly? Even if your family didn't initially write you off as insane the instant you claimed you were dating the Slender man, do you truly believe they would approve of me?" he demanded.

"Who cares if they approve?" I challenged indignantly. "I'm an adult! I can make my own decisions and date whoever I want!" I defended myself.

"If you don't care what they think, then why must you tell them?" he asked.

"Because I'm tired for keeping secrets from everyone!" I whined. "I'm tired of avoiding everyone and missing things because I can't let anyone know about you. I'm tired of hiding Slendy..."

He frowned. "Do you... feel as if I'm holding you back?" he asked softly, and I could hear the hint of hurt in his tone.

I blinked at him, no small amount of shock showing on my face. What an absurd question! "What? God no, Slender! You're the best thing that ever happened to me," I assured him hastily. "But I feel like I'm missing out on things because I have to keep this secret. I'm not saying we tell the whole world you exist... Just my family."

He growled and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "You really want to tell them?" he half asked, half groaned.

"Yes," I said firmly.

The Tall One made a face and sighed. "Fine," he gave in begrudgingly.

My face split into a smile and I threw my arms around Slendy's waist in a tight hug. "Thank you," I whispered.

He wrapped his arms around me in return and buried his face in my hair. "You're welcome little one. Whatever makes you happy," he grumbled.

"I'll call them tomorrow," I told him. "And I'll invite them over for dinner next Saturday."

He exhaled slowly, clearly agitated. His breath fluttered my hair and tickled my neck - but I couldn't let that distract me right now. "So how will this work? Will they just walk in and suddenly find themselves face to face with the Slender man, or would you rather I not show up until later in the evening?" he asked slightly sarcastic.

I rolled my eyes at him. "If you could come in after I've had the chance to explain the situation, that would probably be better."

"And the baby?" he asked. We both glanced down at the infant still entertaining herself on the floor.

"I'll keep her with me. It will give me a good intro to the whole 'hey I'm dating someone' topic when they ask where she came from I guess," I concluded.

Slendy nodded. "Sounds reasonable," he agreed.

There was a pause while we both watched Robin play.

"You know, while we're on the topic of family, your brothers still haven't met Robin yet," I said.

He groaned. "Please don't bring that up now. I already dealt with them just within the past few months. I need more time before I can even entertain the idea of hosting another family get together with them," he moaned.

I sighed and kissed his cheek, which required me to get up on my tippy-toes just to reach. "Alright then. I'll drop it for now. But don't wait too long," I said.

"Yes ma'am," he said with a small, crooked smile and kissed me on the lips. Sometimes his bipolar mood changes really did surprise me.

"So Saturday then?" I asked.

He looked like he just barely contained a sigh. "Yes, Saturday."

'Sky, you're so screwed,' my subconscious laughed at me. The scary thing was, she was probably right. Who knew how my parents would take this? Probably not too well...

'Yeah, I'm screwed,' I agreed with her for once.


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: Let the drama begin...**

* * *

CRASH!

"Fuck!"

"Is everything okay?"

"The hell it is!"

"Calm down little one."

"Maybe I could if the whole atmosphere of the apartment wasn't so damn tense cause _you're_ freaking out too!"

"This was your idea in the first place," the Slender man reminded me coolly.

I ignored the jib. "My hands are shaking so bad I drop everything damn thing I pick up!" I yelled.

"Hence the sound of breaking glass?"

"No shit Sherlock."

"Make sure you don't pick up the baby while you're inflicted with this habit of dropping things please."

Words failed me as my temper caused my ability to form coherent thoughts to be lost and I babbled in some language other than English; my furry and stress levels skyrocketed. His smug, sly smile infuriated the hell out of me, even though rationally I knew he was only teasing, and he was only teasing in his best effort to diffuse the stressed atmosphere - an atmosphere that I was damn well knew that his own Slender powers were at fault for creating, whether he meant to or not.

Yes, it _was_ my idea, but that didn't mean that I still couldn't freak the hell out! My parents and brother would be here in less than ten minutes, and I was hyperventilating as I came to the realization that I wasn't ready. I mean, how do you tell your family that you have a four month old child and that your baby daddy is the Slender man? My father would kill me surely.

Slender wasn't quite to the level of frantic hysteria that I was at, but that wasn't to say that he wasn't nervous as well. The cold vibe that seeped through the air and left a faint ringing in my ears was his doing, but he couldn't really control it. It was his aura - his power - and it just reflected how he felt.

Smooth tentacles slithered around my waist and bound my arms at my sides, rendering me immobile for the most part. An alabaster finger pressed against my lips to cut of the string of unintelligible obscenities. "Sky, breathe," he commanded with all the strength and authority and comfort that I needed to hear at the moment. Slowly, I inhaled deeply and he nodded. "Good girl," he murmured gently. He stooped to plant a quick kiss on my forehead then released me. His tentacles slithered to the ground and collected the shattered remains of the plate I'd dropped and then disposed of them in the near by trash bin. Unsurprisingly the jagged glass didn't leave so much as a scratch on the myth. I almost snorted in amusement. The man was probably bulletproof - broken glass was no problem for him.

"Robin's crying," I observed with a sigh as the wails finally made their way through the fading red haze and reached my ears. Guiltily I wondered how long she'd been crying before I noticed and admitted to myself with shame that she was probably crying because I was yelling in the first place. I walked over to her crib and gently lifted her into my arms. "Hush baby, hush," I murmured gently. "Mommy's sorry for yelling. She didn't mean to scare you, sweetie," I promised.

I had just managed to calm her when the dreaded knock sounded from the front door.

"Oh fuck..."

"Language little one. We don't want our daughter picking words like that as her first," he scolded lightly. "I'll be back after you've broken the news to them," he informed me.

"How will you know?" I asked skeptically.

He smirked at me, and I swear if he'd had eyes he would have winked. "I'm the Slender man little one. I have my ways," and then before I could blink he slender walked to some location unknown to me.

I tucked Robin into her crib as a knock sounded from the front door again. "Coming!" I called in the general direction, trying to keep the nervous quiver from being evident in my voice. Taking a deep breath I opened the door.

"Hi there!" my mom beamed at me and I was engulfed in a hug before she'd even come all the way through the door.

My dad was next. "Hey sweetie pie," he greeted me and surprisingly surpassed the usual awkward one-armed-dad-hug and have me an almost crushing bear hug instead.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Gotta breath Dad," I reminded him. He grinned and let me go.

Charlie didn't even bother with a hug. He was going through that 'I'm too cool cause I'm a man now' teenager phase. You know, that time in every kid's life when they know everything and everyone else around them knows nothing. "Sup?" he mumbled nonchalantly.

I chuckled and pulled him into a hug anyway. "Hey lil' bro," I said, and laughed at his indignant protests as he squirmed to get away from me.

"So how have you been? We haven't seen you in forever!" my mom gushed as I ushered my family into the living room and we all four sat down.

I smiled and hid my shaking hands by sitting on them. 'Deep breath Sky,' I reminded myself.

"I'm doing alright," I said. "I've been quite busy lately, actually."

"I can see that. You've got circles under your eyes," Mom observed with her eyebrows furrowing slightly, and with all the motherly concern I'd gotten used to from her.

'Just get it over with now,' my subconscious advised with a sigh.

"Yeah, I've had a lot to deal with lately..." I trailed off slowly, loosing my courage towards the end of the sentence. "Anyway," I tried to recover while at the same time steering away from what I'd been about to say, "how have y'all been?"

Dad shrugged. "We've been good. Everything around the house is the same as it always is," he said.

"What about you Charlie? How's school?" I asked.

"It's cool," he said in indifferent tones.

I smirked at him and teased, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He shot me a withering look. "Sky..." he complained and I couldn't help but laugh. I loved messing with my brother - I'd rather missed it actually.

Unfortunately 'girlfriend' was the key word with my mother. "How about you, Sky? Have you found anyone yet?" she asked hopefully.

If my nerves hadn't already been fried, I might have laughed at the irony of the situation. 'Yes, but you're gonna wish that I hadn't.'

"Um... Uh yes, actually there is someone," I said slowly.

My dad sat up a little straighter and his eyes got a little sharper. "Oh really? Who is it?"

By this point my brain was a string of panicked obscenities. Why on Earth had I elected to put myself through this?

"You'll get to meet him later," I said as casually as I could. "He'll be coming home in a bit..."

"Coming home?" my father repeated dangerously. "You two are living together?" He hasn't missed the allusion.

I swallowed. "Um, yes?"

Awkward silence.

"I hadn't realized you were that serious with anyone," my mom said slowly.

I looked down at my knees, unable to meet their disapproving gazes. "It's more serious than you might think," I all but whispered. There was silence as my family waited for an explanation. "We um... Well you see, the thing is... Um... We sorta had a kid..."

I'd take the worst of Slendy's anger induced ringing atmospheres in lieu of the feeling in the room at that moment, any day.

"What?" my dad growled. I still couldn't look up, but I was willing to bet that my mom was just sitting there in shock. Who knows what Charlie was doing.

"How far along are you?" Mom asked with a dangerous calm.

I shook my head. "Not _going_ to have. We _did_ have..." I corrected, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die.

"You had a baby?"

I nodded. "You have a four month old granddaughter named Robin," I said softly. I finally dared a glance up. Oh yeah, they were pissed.

His voice starting to rise, my dad asked, "And you couldn't tell us about this before now?"

I clinched my fists to stop the shaking. "No, because I couldn't tell you who the father was."

"And why not?" he demanded.

"Because one, he didn't want me to tell anyone, and two because you wouldn't have believed me anyway!"

"Why wouldn't we believe you?" Mom asked angrily.

"Is he that bad?" Charlie asked with wide eyes.

"Stay out of this Charlie," my dad snapped at my brother and then resumed his furious glare towards me.

Moment of truth. "Because he's the Slender man!" I blurted and then bit my lip.

Three pairs of eyes looked at me as if I'd gone nuts.

"This isn't funny Sky," my mom said. Charlie was trying his best to hide a smile despite her words.

"No, it's not," I agreed.

"Then stop playing games with us," my father growled.

"I do assure you Mr. Steele, that the last thing either Sky nor myself wants to do right now is play games," said a cool silk voice behind me. My family sat frozen with looks of disbelief and fear flashing across their faces. "I agree with Mrs. Steele, this is not a laughing matter." A hand gently squeezed my shoulder. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Sky's boyfriend, the Slender man."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, it's a cliffy! Muhahahahaha! I love being evil xD**


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: Heehee I couldn't make y'all suffer with that cliff hanger for too long. Apparently I'm not as evil as I though ^^ Here's the next chapter with all its angst and drama filled fun! Enjoy! :D**

**Oh, and on another note, we reached 300 reviews! Holy shit! I never, ever in my wildest dreams thought my stories would be this popular. When I first started posting on here I was like, "Ehh, I'll make 100 reviews tops. ****_If_**** I'm lucky." But NO! ****_300!_**** Y'all are the best. I seriously love you all xD 3**

**The prize for 300th review goes to****_ xXxSaiyanPrincessxXx_****. Congrats! Be looking for a PM from me soon ;)**

**-Erin**

* * *

Silence. Complete and utter, crushing silence.

My family sat in front of us with looks of shock, hurt, and fear all mixed together. Finally my dad swallowed hard, the angry glare returning to his features. "Sky, don't play around. Who is this? A friend of yours in one of those morph suit things?" he growled.

"No Dad," I mumbled warily. I was still waiting for the big blow up. The room was cold and ringing slightly with tension both metaphorically and literally. To my family I was sure the Operator probably looked calm and cool, but I knew better. Reassuringly I lifted my hand and put it on top of his where it rested on my shoulder.

"Don't screw with us Sky," my dad said dangerously.

"Dad, I'm not-"

He cut me off midsentence. "Do we look stupid to you?"

"No Dad, I-"

His voice started to rise. "The Slender man isn't real!"

"Yes he is-"

"No he's not dammit!"

"He's right in front of you!"

"The hell he is!" Dad practically roared. "This joke is over _now_ Sky Olivia!"

"DAD THIS ISN'T A JOKE!" I yelled. I had to break through to him. He had to understand.

I'd hurt my family so much with all of this I knew - caused so much trouble. Dad, obviously had totally lost it. His face was red - almost scarlet now actually - and his eyes were nearly bulging out of his skull. He was fifty-two after all and the doctor had warned him that his heart wasn't in as good of shape as it used to be. If all this gave him a heart attack... I couldn't even bare the thought. 'Daddy no...'

My mother wasn't taking this too much better, judging by her face, even if she had been quiet thus far. She had been sitting through this whole thing like a statue, her eyes wide and face pale. God dammit, this situation couldn't be good for her health either. Her blood pressure couldn't handle stress like this anymore. Last thing I needed was to be the death of both my parents at the same time. 'Fuck.'

Charlie, meanwhile was sitting there in what seemed to be awe, jaw dropped and eyes bright. Oh yeah, I'm sure he was thrilled that his sister was dating the Slender man. I wouldn't get any arguments from him at least. I thought it would have been comforting to have someone else on my side, but under the circumstances I couldn't find it in myself to find any comfort what so ever. It was very hard to locate, let alone acknowledge the bright side in any of this.

"Do you really expect us to believe all of this, Sky?" my mom spoke finally. Her eyebrows were drawn together and her face showed complete and utter hurt confusion. She didn't understand, and I couldn't blame her. Had I been in her shoes, I wouldn't believe me either.

I sighed. "Honestly I don't blame you for you're reactions. it is a bit bizarre, I'll admit."

My father scoffed. "A bit," he repeated sarcastically. He looked like he was on the verge of busting the vein in his temple - I really needed to calm him down.

"But," I continued softly, "You have to hear me out." I looked up at my father, pleading with my eyes. I need this - I needed _them_. They had to understand. "Please Dad."

"Alright then. We're listening," Dad said, making a great effort to keep his voice calm.

I looked up a Slendy just for a moment, seeking some reassurance before I began our story. The ghost of a smile crossed his blank face and he gave the slightest of nods. I took a deep breath. 'Here it goes...'

I didn't look up from the floor the whole time I spoke. I didn't want to see the expressions that played across my family's faces as I told them for the first time of my meeting the Slender man on a hunting trip, going on walks at night to see him, getting kidnapped by a drunken, teenage gang and then rescued by the centuries old myth who proceeded to tear the gang to pieces in the basement of an abandoned house. I told them about the first time I met his brothers, and about how Slender had stepped in when Jackson overstepped his boundaries on our night out. I explained that after I'd moved out, we'd started living together here while I finished college. Then, finally I arrived at the point in the story where I'd found out I was pregnant.

The tension coming from my parents significantly increased, but I had to go on. If I stopped now I'd lose my nerve all together.

I spoke a little quicker as I talked about the pregnancy and kept this part of the story very brief and general in description - no need to scare them with what could have happened had Slender's fears proved true, nor to tell them about the tension I'd lived with for months. I told them that Robin was born on November second, and that she was perhaps the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen in my life. She turned five months next week. The tale over, finally I looked up.

Their faces were hurt filled over everything I'd kept from them. I'd hidden so much - practically my entire life. Their expressions said it clearly, 'How could you do this to us?' With those looks focused on me like that, I almost lost my control and started crying; it was a very close call. Head bowed I stood up and walked over to my parents. "I'm sorry," I said and I hugged them both.

After a long, harsh silence, my mom was the first to speak. "Can we meet Robin?" she ask quietly.

I nodded. Looking up at the figure still standing behind where I had been sitting, I asked, "Slendy, would you please go get her?"

"Of course,' he replied and stooped to quickly kiss the top of my head before he vanished from the room.

"Woah!" Charlie exclaimed. "Did he just teleport?"

I smiled at him. My parents looked beyond started, Charlie just looked amazed. I loved that kid even more in that instant. "Yep."

"That's awesome," Charlie grinned.

"I'm flattered by your awe Charlie," Slendy said amused as he reappeared in the room, a sleepy infant just starting to awaken in his arms.

I stood and Slendy handed her off to me. "Hey there sleepy head," I murmured. "Wake up sweetie, Grandma and Grandpa want to meet you." The whole room held it's breath in anticipation as I held Robin out to my mom. Dad leaned over her shoulder and I bit my lip as my parents gazed down at the face of their granddaughter for the first time.

"She looks a lot like you did when you were a baby," Dad commented.

"Sky, she's beautiful," my mom said and I noticed with slight unease that her eyes looked watery.

'Oh God, please don't cry...'

Mom cleared her throat. "I wish you would have told us sooner. I hate that I missed out on the first months of my first grandchild's life." Her voice broke slightly when she said 'grandchild,' and the sound hit me like a blow to the stomach. God, I was the biggest bitch of a daughter ever, wasn't I? I looked down, cheeks red with shame. Yeah, I knew that she would be disappointed that she'd missed out. Couldn't blame her really.

"The situation was... difficult, as you know by now," Slendy said in my defense.

Mom just nodded and cleared her throat again. "Well, I want to know the instant there's another one, got it?"

Slender froze and I nudged him gently to get him to relax. I could tell quite clearly that he certainly didn't expect there to be another one. This first pregnancy had been trying enough. Despite that I smiled. "Of course Mom. Wouldn't dream of doing anything else."

* * *

**A/N: There! How was it? Hope it held up to your expectations! :)**

**We're getting close to the end now. Probably only about two chapters left now plus a epilogue...**


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: You guys are going to love this chapter... WARNING: Tkdoegirl is not responsible for any uncontrollable shaking, crying, screaming, hysterical laughter, or any other emotion induced by the contents of this chapter. You have been warned xD**

* * *

"Sky honey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mom asked. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen hesitantly watching my prepare dinner. After a second she came forward and grabbed the knife off the cutting board and began to chop the veggies for the salad while I stirred the sauce to go over the chicken and spaghetti noodles.

"Yeah, sure Mom," I said falsely cheerily. I could tell by her tone and body language, this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. Oh dear...

"I want to talk to you about the, um, situation you're in right now," she said delicately as she chopped lettuce.

"Situation?" I asked innocently.

"You now what I'm talking about Sky. If I'm remembering all the stories that Charlie's told me correctly, the Slender man is a murderer. A _child_ murderer," she said bluntly.

"He used to be, but he doesn't kill children anymore," I said stiffly. This was not a favorite topic of mine. Thank God Slender wasn't in the room at the moment at least.

"But he does still kill, doesn't he?" she asked suspiciously, picking up on the information I was trying not to mention.

I sighed and pressed my middle finger against my forehead as a headache started. Dammit. "Yes, he does," I admitted. I decided the truth was the best option at the moment - I'd lied to my mother for long enough.

"And that doesn't make you nervous?" she asked with wide hazel eyes - the same eyes that I had inherited. "It doesn't make you concerned for your safety? For the safety of your child?"

I put down the spoon and turned off the stove burner and turned to face my mom. "No. Slender would never hurt either of us." I glared at my mother.

"How do you know?" she challenged.

I stood up straighter in indignity. "Because he's not a mindless killer! He knows what he's doing and he knows who he is killing. He would never harm me or the baby," I defended my love. "Yes, he still kills Mom, but do you know _who_ he kills? Murderers, rapists, kidnappers, terrorists, pedophiles - Mom, the men he kills do more harm to this world and to humanity then Slendy does in killing them!" I exclaimed. "Who would you rather have out there? I personally would rather have Slender over a serial killer. I'd rather have him _protecting_ my family from those people, I think."

Exasperated, she asked, "But is it his place to deem whether or not those people should die?"

"You don't think a rapist or a pedophile deserves some sort of punish Mom?" I asked bemused.

"Of course I do!"

"Then what's your problem?"

"No matter how 'honorable' the cause is, I don't like the thought of you living and raising a child with a killer!" she nearly yelled.

"Police have to kill. Soldiers have to kill. I find what they do to be pretty honorable. Would you have a problem if I was raising a child with either of them?"

"Well no..."

"So what's the problem then?"

Mom just stood there for a moment looking lost as she struggled for a good argument. Finally though, she just stopped. Several emotions flickered across her face like a slide show, and I uneasily anticipated which thought she would land on. It ended up catching me off guard, however, which one it turned out to be. She looked at me after a pause and hesitantly smiled a little sadly. "You grew into quite the young woman, Sky. I'm proud of you."

I blinked at her, surprised at the new direction of conversation. "Oh, um, thanks Mom..." I said awkwardly as I turned back to the stove and finished up dinner.

"You really do know what you're doing don't you?" she asked, brushing a strand of hair from my face gently.

I turned back and smiled at her. "Of course Mom. When have I ever rushed into anything?"

She just smile at me again and hugged me. I hugged her back, taking a moment as I remembered how comforting a mother's hug could be. My, how I'd missed my family all these months.

"Dad wants to know when dinner will be ready," Charlie said from the door way.

Mom and I turned and I grinned at him. "Its ready now. Go get Dad and Slendy," I told him.

Dinner was a little tense, but not overly so. We ate our dinner mostly in silence with a few minutes of small talk here and there. It was just as we were finishing up that Dad pushed his plate away and looked directly at Slendy, his eyes hard set.

Oh no.

"So Mr. Slender man," Dad started

"You may call me Slender or Slendy - whichever is more comfortable for you, sir, if you wish," my boyfriend responded.

"Slender then," Dad started again. "Are you planing on marrying my daughter?"

I choked on my last bite of pasta. The Tall One just froze.

Dad raised an eyebrow and continued to stare down the myth across the table. Slendy cleared his throat. Slowly, as if he was thinking very hard about what he said, the Operator replied, "Um, I'm not sure marriage is an option for us, sir."

"Why not?"

For a moment I thought Slendy was going to laugh. "Mr. Steele, when you find a pastor who will marry a faceless man who isn't even human, please do let me know."

Dad scowled. "So this means you two are never getting married then, huh?"

I grimaced. "Probably not."

Dad sighed and sat back. "I had wanted to walk you down the isle some day, Sky."

I looked down at my lap. "I know Dad. A wedding just wouldn't work. I'm sorry."

"I know hun. It's alright, I understand." When I looked up he was smiling albeit smiling sadly at me. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

I smiled back. "I am happy Dad." I reached out and grabbed Slendy's hand. "Don't worry, I am."

After dinner, Slendy politely excused himself and made an escape to get some fresh air. 'Lucky bastard,' I thought fondly.

My family left shortly after. It was an hour's drive home and it was getting late. I hugged all three and said good bye, promising another dinner soon and plenty of reports of how Robin was doing.

"Don't you ever keep anything like this from us again, Sky," my mom warned me as they walked out the door.

I grinned. "Don't worry, Mom. No more secrets."

"Good. I love you honey. I'll call you next week," she hugged me one last time.

"Bye Mom, love you too."

"Love you sweety. Be good," Dad said.

"Bye Dad, love you too."

Charlie, meanwhile, was already gone, the farewells had gotten too boring and mushy for him apparently. I closed the door my behind my family and stood there staring at the painted wood for a long moment before I turned and strode into the bedroom. I flopped face down on the bedding and lay there, almost dozing off until a warm silk voice from the doorway startled me.

"Tired?"

I rolled over and smiled at him, not at all bothered by his sudden appearence. "Yes," I answered completely honestly. "Thank God Robin went to bed without much of a fuss tonight."

"Mhm." Slendy walked over and lay down on the bed beside me, pulling me into his arms in the same instant. "Your parents are disappointed I'm not marrying you," he mused aloud. I thought it was funny, after all that had happened tonight, that was the first thing he thought of.

I sighed and buried my face against his neck. "I know, but there's no way for us to get married, let alone have any sort of ceremony, so the point is moot."

"They'd marry pretty much anyone in Vegas, wouldn't they?" Slender asked.

I laughed, not really taking him serious. "If they thought you were just wearing some sort of a weird costume then yeah, they'd probably marry us." I giggled, "I could dress up as a slender person too and it would look totally legit!"

Slender scoffed. "You would do no such thing. You would wear a dress as is tradition."

I laughed again, going along with it. "And would you wear a tux? I'm sure Trendy would be thrilled to get you out of your suit."

"Oh Lord, I would have to invite them wouldn't I?" Slendy groaned.

"Of course! Surely whichever Elvis is marrying us won't mind." I giggled.

Slendy shook his head and I knew if he'd had eyes he would have rolled them. "If it was possible, would you even marry me?" he asked quietly.

I sat up and looked at Slendy in amusement. "What kind of question is that?" I asked, bemused, "Of course I would."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked as he sat up too.

"Of course," I repeated.

"Well then, Ms. Steele..." Slendy stood up, and before my brain could comprehend what was going on, he knelt on one knee beside the bed, gazing up at me intently. Reaching inside his jacket, he pulled out a small box. By this point my brain had caught up and I was frozen in shock as I stared back down at my boyfriend. Opening the box, a sparkle caught my eye, but I couldn't look away from Slender's face.

"Sky Olivia Steele, will you marry me?" he breathed.

It took me a moment to find my voice. "Wait... Slendy, you're serious?" I whispered hoarsely.

"As the plague," he vowed.

"Vegas? Really?" Tears threatened to overwhelm me and made my voice soft, but I held them back. 'Keep it together Steele...'

"Vegas," he confirmed. His voice, too, was low and husky with emotion.

"Oh Slendy, you crazy, insane, amazing man, do I even need to answer that? Of course I will!" I cried, flinging myself at my boyfriend - no, fiancé.

Fiancé...

I was getting married!

Slendy slipped the sparkling ring on my left ring finger and I eagerly kissed him. "So this is why you left after dinner?" I breathed against his lips.

"Mhm," he purred.

"I love you, my amazing and fantasitc Slender man," I gasped between kisses.

"And I love you, my beautiful and wonderful little one. My gorgeous Sky."


End file.
